WELFARE fraud uncovered by the Government amounted to $2.7 million last year, double the amount stolen in the previous year but still a tiny fraction of spending.
The figure's release prompted criticism that the Government's plan to spend $40 million on catching welfare cheats by hiring 200 more investigators is an overreaction.
The Social Welfare Department revealed yesterday that 88 cases of fraud and $2.7 million of cheated money had been uncovered in the 1998-99 financial year.
In the past three years, the amount of welfare money stolen had doubled every year.
In 1997-98, 57 cases and $1.4 million were uncovered. In the 1996-97 year, 17 cases and $670,000 were found.
The department plans to spend $40 million on hiring 200 more welfare officers this year to search for more cases of fraud - which tend to involve people failing to disclose income or assets, falsifying rent receipts or claiming a divorce or separation from their spouse so they can get benefits.