This was announced by the interior and finance ministries on Monday. This resulted in damage of 14,121,501 euros in 2022, compared to more than 20 million the year before. Most crimes were committed in Vienna. It was striking that the proportion of foreign suspects in particular fell sharply. In 2022 there were 3,345 suspects, of whom 1,119 were Austrian citizens and 2,226 were nationals of other nations. Despite a significantly higher total number of suspects (4,730), this meant only a small decrease in the proportion of domestic suspects (2021: 1,384). The number of foreign suspects, on the other hand, fell by 1,120 within a year.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) said that the campaign, which was launched in spring 2022, had had an effect: “Hundreds of priority campaigns throughout Austria made it possible to effectively combat the abuse of social benefits.” Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP): “Social benefit fraud harms honest working taxpayers, which is why constructive cross-agency cooperation between the BMI and BMF is so important.”
Almost every reported case has been resolved
According to the two ministries, more than 50 different modi operandi have been registered. These included fraudulently obtaining minimum income despite sufficient assets, the abuse of pension benefits by faking a sham residence, the illegal receipt of family allowances, forbidden stays abroad while receiving social benefits and the fraudulent obtaining of basic services by using false identities. Almost every reported case was also clarified, the clarification rate was 99.8 percent. The Social Security Fraud Task Force has been installed at the Federal Criminal Police Office since December 2021.
The ministries also reported a spectacular case in the cleaning industry. During social fraud investigations by the financial police, it was found that a group of perpetrators with various company vehicles had over 2,000 marginal jobs with simultaneous transfer payments in the past five years, despite full employment. Criminal investigations are being conducted against a large number of these employees and the transfer payments received without justification are being reclaimed.
