NEWS

Abuse of OAED benefit system

People with up to 15 million euros in deposits have been claiming unemployment benefits from the OAED manpower organization, according to data collected by the Finance Ministry?s IT department, Kathimerini has reported.

The data has been sent to Parliament and the country?s chief financial prosecutor, Grigoris Peponis.

Meanwhile, an inspection by Greece?s largest social security fund, IKA, has found that about 7 percent of the benefits are being claimed by people who are ineligible for assistance or have submitted counterfeit documents, the report said.

A senior OAED official who asked not to be named told Kathimerini that the granting of benefits is not tied to income criteria. Rather, people who have gathered a specific number of social security credits and have lost their jobs are entitled to the money.

?The unemployment benefit does not target those who really need it,? the official said. About 700,000 jobless are currently listed with OAED of whom only 200,000 receive financial aid.

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