Overview

• Detlef Scheele warns of criminal networks registering EU nationals in rundown housing, using fictitious minijobs to unlock top-up benefits and covered housing costs.
• He calls for a tighter definition of employment under §7 SGB II to stop sham job certificates from qualifying entire households for payments.
• Labour Minister Bärbel Bas plans to present anti-fraud measures in the autumn, with improved data exchange between foreigners’ authorities, jobcenters and the customs unit FKS.
• The Federal Employment Agency is preparing a dedicated Kompetenzzentrum Leistungsmissbrauch to coordinate detection and enforcement against organized schemes.
• Official data cite 421 organized cases in 2024 with 209 criminal complaints and only three fines, while CDU’s Carsten Linnemann pushes EU-level changes so a minijob alone does not confer full eligibility and Duisburg’s mayor reports heavy local strain.