The research group social fraud in Tirol reported 262 judicial offenses in one year

In the security agreement concluded last year between the Ministry of the Interior and the Land of Tyrol, various measures against social abuse were agreed, including the installation of a separate investigation team against social fraud. As early as June 2017, the "Group for Aliens Police Investigation – Social Fraud" started its work as part of a pilot project of the National Police Department. Governor Günther Platter and police director of the state Helmut Tomac presented today a first interim report at the Landhaus in Innsbruck

"Tirol is one of the safest countries – not least because of its high level of social peace, our goal is to preserve it, this requires social justice and we will fight the social abuse and thus the fraud for the people who finance the system with all seriousness and consequences ", the governor makes clear and refers to the impressive balance after one year: 262 legal offenses with a total loss The task force created could report more than one million euros last year.

The first results are impressive. The Tyrolean model has already been presented by the Federal Office for Criminal Law Practices as a model with the best practices & # 39; in the context of a conference of police officers of the state. Building on this, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is currently working on a national project that will start in 2019 and run for two years. The findings are then used to assess the required legal, technical and organizational precautionary measures. Given the variety of support services and institutions responsible for this, a kind of "transparency database" for social benefits is desirable for the State Police Director, Helmut Tomac.

The Task Force of the Directorate Board for the police services of Tyrol consists of seven police officers and is currently being strengthened. It works closely with police departments, paying agencies and the financial police. In essence, two facts are relevant: on the one hand that a right of residence is confused with deliberately incorrect information (such as incorrect information about identity, origin, other circumstances that cause the stay), and on the other hand that benefits are claimed unlawfully. In her work, the research team focuses on audit and research activities. For example, occasional or planned focal checks are carried out in social housing, construction sites or restaurants.

The National Police Director lists many cases where the troops are deployed: "Recipients of social assistance with asylum status go back to their country of origin for months and can continue to pay social benefits. who are homeless to claim higher social benefits, e-cards are illegally passed on to health care, or asylum seekers send false threatening letters to obtain asylum status abusively. & # 39;

For the Tyrolean Provincial Governor is a further support the efforts of the executive power as a matter of course: "I thank the police for the excellent work. We do everything we can to detect and prevent social abuse in time, or even prevent it, by means of preventive measures. "

Factbox

Summary of the research group for social fraud in Tirol after about a year Existing:

• 262 represented legal cases
• 179 reports for administrative violations (mainly registration registration office and law of foreigners and Austrian minimum guarantee law)
• 42 reports to the public prosecutor (investigation of a suspicion)
• 387 Establishments of identity
• 6 Arrests after the Law on the Aliens Police
• Total damage to the 262 reported legal offenses: € 1,032,048.65
• Damages in 4 cases only: approximately € 112,000

Source: Country Tirol