‘Watchdog’ unit to investigate benefit abuse

Press, 30 December 1988, Page 4

‘Watchdog’ unit to investigate benefit abuse

DEBORAH McPHERSON

By

Unscrupulous Christchurch beneficiaries may find themselves the target of investigations next year by the Social Welfare Department’s new “watchdog,” the benefit control unit. '

Positions for the new 12-member fraud investigation team will be advertised in January, and the team would be “up and running” by April, said the acting assistant director of benefits and pensions, Mr Mervyn Brown, yesterday.

Pilot benefit control units set up in 10 regions, including Nelson and Dunedin, had already proved successful, saving the department $2O million in welfare payments. The Christchurch unit was expected to cost about $250,000 to set up, but should recover costs within about six months. It was expected to recover four to five times that after a year, said Mr Brown.

A domestic purposes benefit fraud team working in Christchurch had already saved the department up to SIM in three and half months. The unit,

which worked from the clerical inquiry unit, would be incorporated into the new benefit control team. All beneficiaries suspected of abuse would be investigated, including those receiving the unemployment benefit, domestic purposes or sickness benefits.

Even National Superannuitants, widows or invalids benefits would be investigated “if we suspected abuse,” said Mr Brown.

The fraud team would not “act like the Gestapo running around checking on people at 6 a.m. in the morning,” he said. It would, however, be entitled, under the Social Security Act, to request information from banks and companies about beneficiaries the department suspected of abuse, he said.

“We will not be using those tactics in a broad

sweep of beneficiaries, as that would be an infringement of people’s rights.

“In the first instance, we expect we will get a lot of allegations of abuse from the public, but we will only be asking for information when we suspect a case of abuse.” The department has had the right to ask for information from individuals and organisations about any applicant for a benefit, or anyone receiving a benefit since 1938.

Mr Brown said that method did not necessarily uncover many cases of abuse. The D.P.B. fraud team had had more success using a new non-threaten-ing questioning approach, particularly with de facto relationships. “As far as D.P.B. goes, we have found that most people are not trying to rip the system off.”