D.S.W. fraud unit poised to start

Press, 3 April 1989, Page 9

D.S.W. fraud unit poised to start

By

DEBORAH MCPHERSON

Christchurch’s first benefit fraud squad will begin its investigations in two weeks. The 11-member benefit control team, expected to begin work on April 17, would not be a “hit squad,” said the department’s director of benefits and pensions, Mr Cliff Money, yesterday.

Its main job would be to investigate complaints from the public, to act as a deterrent to people who “might feel prone to take advantage

of the system” and to act as a “sounding board” for people concerned about a relationship.

Its approach would be non-confrontational, said Mr Money. Staff would also be expected to build a rapport with the com-

munity. But the department would be entitled, under the Social Security Act, to request information from banks, companies and employers about beneficiaries the department suspected of abuse, he said. The department had had that right since 1938.

How much money the team was expected to recover was not known, but "value for money” had already been

received from the department’s clerical inquiry unit for domestic purposes benefit investigations,” said Mr Money.

The unit had been established as a trial at the department’s initiative, and had saved the department up to $1 million in its first 3y 2 months. The Christchurch fraud squad was part of a national programme to establish benefit payment control units.