Compensation fund deceived: woman (86) would have to be 126 years old to repay debts

published11. June 2022, 04:54

A woman has illegally received supplementary benefits from the compensation office for years. For this she gets a prison sentence and a deportation from the criminal court.

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An 86-year-old had illegally drawn from the Lucerne compensation fund for years. In total, she received almost 126,000 francs.

20min / Taddeo Cerletti

The Lucerne criminal court found the woman guilty of multiple fraud.

20min/Gianni Walther

The 86-year-old was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence of one year. She will also be expelled from the country for five years.

20min/Gianni Walther

A woman (86) from Italy has been found guilty of multiple fraud by the Lucerne Criminal Court. This is because between May 2012 and March 2019 she had illegally received supplementary benefits of around 126,000 francs from the Lucerne compensation office.

At least eleven times pointed to the obligation to report

At the latest since her husband’s death in 2011, the woman has owned properties in Italy worth around 200,000 francs. In the registration form for supplementary services, however, she had stated in 2011 that “she did not own any real estate and did not generate any real estate income,” as the criminal court’s judgment said.

During the periodic reviews of the supplementary benefits in the years that followed, the woman had, contrary to the truth, stated on forms that she was not earning any income from real estate and that she did not own any real estate. This is despite the fact that she has been made aware of the obligation to report changes in personal or economic circumstances at least eleven times in numerous information letters and decrees.

Five years expulsion from the country

Because of the incorrect information, the compensation office assumed that the 86-year-old had no other income apart from the AHV pension and that the bank and securities balances were below the exempt amount of CHF 37,500. The compensation fund awarded the woman supplementary benefits of CHF 1,777 per month.

The compensation fund has not yet received a large part of the money back. Since autumn 2020, however, the woman has been paying back 250 francs a month by offsetting her AHV pension. The 86-year-old is sentenced to a conditional term of imprisonment of twelve months. She will also be expelled from the country for five years. The judgment is final.