Foreigners in Sweden commit a disproportionate amount of “benefit fraud,” research has found.
A new report from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SIA) has also shown that foreign-born people account for around 80 per cent of undue social assistance payments and are overrepresented in all other forms of benefit fraud.
According to the SIA, errors in “assistance compensation” claims occurred more than eight times as frequently among foreign-born individuals compared to native Swedes.
The foreign individuals were found to be 30 times more likely to commit fraud related to child-benefit claims compared to their native-born counterparts, marking the most significant disparity among all examined benefits.
“Foreign-born people tend to be overrepresented in the intention group in almost all benefits presented,” an internal document by the SIA states.
“The over-representation is particularly large in assistance allowance, child benefit and parental benefit.”
The data also found that individuals who misuse one benefit are more likely to misuse other benefits.
The report, which mainly covers data gathered in 2023, was made public by Verifiera on August 9. The original document has since been seen by Brussels Signal.
Nyhetsbyrån Verifiera har tagit del av en rapport från Försäkringskassan. Den innehåller en hel del intressanta nyheter som sannolikt aldrig kommer att rapporteras av SVT, SR, DN m fl. https://t.co/7MnPEKQgaO pic.twitter.com/D2LxfUy2EF
— Gunnar Axén (@gunnaraxen) August 9, 2024
Benefit fraud refers to individuals who deliberately, or with gross negligence, provide incorrect information or do not report changed circumstances to the SIA and cause — or risk causing — incorrect payments, said Verifiera quoting the SIA’s definition.
The most common instances of fraud involved people being on benefits despite actively working, the provision of incorrect income data, a failure to provide correct information on residence or stays abroad, and false claims of being resident in Sweden.
According to the SIA, imposing fines on those who provided incorrect or misleading information would have limited effects, at best. It added that any system solutions would be ineffective as long as the information was provided solely based on honesty and conscience, without any means of verifying relevant documentation.
Louise Meijer, an MP for Sweden’s centrist Moderate party, has apologised to voters for her previous position on open borders, saying she regrets “making mistakes” by “pleading for openness and refugees [being] welcome". @meijerlouise https://t.co/K1EjpVX0Je
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 15, 2024
While detailing instances of fraud, the report distinguished between people making mistakes when applying for benefits, and those trying actively to commit fraud.
The latter group, despite being smaller, is said to have historically been a greater financial burden, with such intentional efforts to commit fraud said to sometimes have links to organised crime.
“Approximately eight per cent of individuals accounted for 80 per cent of the amount that has been paid out incorrectly due to individuals having provided incorrect information or not reporting changed circumstances,” Verifiera cited the SIA as saying.
“This eight per cent consists of individuals who have received SEK 40,000 [€3.480] or more in confirmed incorrect payments during the four-year period. The incorrect payments have primarily been made within a benefit; 63 per cent of individuals have received incorrect payments for one benefit and 26 per cent for two benefits. Only 10 per cent have received incorrect payments in three or more benefits.”
Verifiera said that the report showed a previous lack of knowledge of the issues. It was only in 2023 that official data began to be gathered about who committed benefit violations, how and why.
Gunnar Axén, Chairman of Verifiera and a former MP for the centre-right Moderate Party, claimed the SIA had not wanted to publish the report, first citing vacations as a reason and later invoking confidentiality concerns.
High crime levels in Sweden are pushing rescue workers to drastic measures; those in the city of Uppsala, near Stockholm, will be equipped with bulletproof vests. https://t.co/dn6B7sYKIs
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 25, 2024
