A Graz couple who married thirteen times have defrauded more than 326,000 euros just so the 73-year-old could collect her widow’s pension during the divorce. Over the past ten years, the number of social benefit frauds in Styria has exploded, with damages running into millions!
Is social fraud made too easy? Apparently, if you look at the Styrian numbers. While 55 cases were reported in 2014, the number increased almost sevenfold to 371 crimes in 2023. The damage to the Styria runs into millions.
A striking example is a retired couple from Graz who earned an additional 326,000 euros over 35 years through repeated marriages and divorces. How was that possible? After the death of her first husband in 1981, the woman received a widow’s pension. In October 1982 she married her second husband for the first time, from whom she divorced for the first time in 1988.
“The marriage was never broken”
In total there were twelve divorces and 13 weddings – the couple is currently remarried. The case was initiated following a ruling by the OGH last March after the woman from Graz challenged a negative decision by the pension insurer about her widow’s pension.
At the time, the Supreme Court ruled that repeated marriages and subsequent divorces of the same spouse constituted an abuse of rights if the marriage had never failed and the divorces occurred solely for the purpose of claiming a widow’s pension.
The couple had a model wedding
Investigations by the Graz police subsequently confirmed the suspicion of fraud, especially since all interviewees confirmed that the couple had never really been divorced for more than 35 years and had in fact had a model marriage. The people around them would not have noticed the repeated marriages and divorces. The 73-year-old and her husband declined to testify; both are suspected of serious commercial fraud.
Millions in damage to taxpayers
More and more people deceive and camouflage in order to collect social benefits such as unemployment benefits, minimum income or healthcare allowance. Austria has been battling for years a growing wave of social benefit fraud, which is now reaching record levels and costing the state and taxpayers millions every year.
A look at the suspected fraudsters shows us: about 70 percent are foreigners. While the share of residents/foreigners was in balance in 2017, the share of people without Austrian citizenship now dominates. The largest group in 2023 consisted of Ukrainian nationals, followed by Afghan, Syrian and Serbian nationals.
Strongest annual balance sheet
The police have been stepping up the fight against this fraud phenomenon for several years by introducing their own ‘Task Force Solbe’ nationally. Last year, detectives were able to investigate approximately 4,650 suspects nationwide and, with uncovered damage of approximately 25.5 million euros, were able to demonstrate the strongest annual balance since the task force was established.
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
