Benefit fraud rises to €153m

Councils traced €67m in benefit fraud in 2011, a rise of €14m, junior social affairs minister Paul de Krom told parliament on Friday.


Earlier this month it was reported that more fraud was traced by the state-run benefit agency UWV, which deals with unemployment and incapacity benefits, and the social insurance bank SVB, which handles pensions and child benefit.
The total amount of benefit fraud in 2011 was €153m.
De Krom is asking parliament to push through changes to benefit fraud law before the end of the summer so that fines can be drastically increased, reports the Telegraaf.
In 2011, the UWV lost €84m to fraud but fines totalled just €5.8m. For the SVB, the figures were €22m and €1.9m respectively.
‘It is essential that fines for benefit fraud are prohibitive,’ De Krom told parliament.

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