Cross-border benefit cheats pocketing £700,000 in payments

Cross-border benefit fraudsters have illegally pocketed almost £700,000 from the North's welfare system in the past three years, new figures revealed today.

Cross-border benefit fraudsters have illegally pocketed almost £700,000 (€763,160) from the North's welfare system in the past three years, new figures revealed today.

Forty-eight of them have been caught falsely claiming off the Social Security Agency since 2006, according to Stormont records. They have taken an average of £14,393 (€17,116) each.