Welfare fraud - Needy will suffer most

Since the downturn in the economy, the level of welfare fraud has increased alarmingly.

In 2008, 324 cases of welfare fraud were finalised in the courts, up by more than 26% on the previous year.

In the first 11 months of this year, the figure had already exceeded the total for last year. The partial figure for this year already represents an increase of 67.8% over the figure for 2000.