Report: Criminals bought up to 11,000 homes in the Netherlands with forged paperwork

For sale sign - Credit: - License: DepositPhotos Crime Business Thursday, 8 October 2026 - 11:10

Between 6,000 and 11,000 Dutch homes have been bought with forged mortgage applications, according to an unpublished report by the Financieel Expertise Centrum that NOS’s insiders reportedly say has been sitting at the Ministry of Justice and Security for over six months. The properties obtained through forged paperwork were then allegedly used for illegal activity, such as money laundering.

The Dutch Banking Association (NVB), lawmakers, and the professional association of notaries have been warning about such fraud for years. The homes are used for money laundering, illegal rentals, labor exploitation, drug crime, and other forms of undermining,” NVB’s chair Medy van der Laan told the Tweede Kamer on Wednesday during a hearing on undermining crime.

Allegedly, the report was scheduled to be released in March. “Mortgage fraud is happening on a growing scale,” van der Laan said. “There is exploitation, fraud, and other deeply serious abuses. And it damages the livability of neighborhoods.”

Notaries, such as banks, want the power to verify income information with the Tax Administration. “We respect every sensitivity around privacy,” Van der Laan told NOS. “On an application, we only want to check that the information we have been given is accurate.”

Back in 2024, the FD alleged that hundreds of Amsterdam homes between the years of 2018 and 2023 were bought through fraudulent applications. The spaces were reportedly used to house migrant workers and store drug money, among other crimes.