An 80-year-old woman who has claimed welfare benefits in Italy for the past 12 years is being investigated after the authorities found she had a Swiss bank account containing one million euros, according to reports.
Two people claiming a total of €120,000 in disability benefits for total blindness have been arrested in southern Italy after they were spotted engaging in normal activities such as driving, using a touch screen phone and moving around without assistance.
Italy spends more than any other OECD country on pensions, while overall the government is the fifth-biggest social spender in terms of GDP, new figures show.
An Italian man who claimed thousands of euros in disability benefits for over 15 years for “total blindness” has been reported to police after he was caught partaking in normal activities such as crossing a busy road unaided and driving a moped.
A man in Rome was caught claiming his dead mother's pension after post office workers became suspicious that her apparent longevity was too good to be true.
Two Sicilian men who falsely claimed they were blind managed to swindle €230,000 in state benefits, before getting caught shopping and driving cars, police said on Monday.
Police in the southern Campania region have seized assets worth €108 million from a criminal network accused of creating around 10,000 bogus jobs in order to claim benefits from the Italian state.
A woman in the southern region of Calabria has been arrested for allegedly tricking the social services out of €45,000, by claiming her dead mother's benefits for eight years.
