More benefits cheats being caught

More benefits fraudsters are being detected

The number of people convicted of benefit fraud in Northern Ireland has doubled in less than two years.

So far this year more than one person a day has been caught claiming money to which they were not entitled.

On one occasion a man under suspicion of claiming unemployment benefit while working turned up for interview in his car with a taxi sign on the roof.

Those caught often receive a suspended sentence and/or a fine and must also pay back the falsely claimed money.

John Nevin, assistant director of benefit security at the Department of Social Development, said it was able to use new powers, including the investigation of claimants' bank accounts.

"Increasingly we are making more use of data matching with computers looking across benefit systems and seeing where information people have given does not tally up from one set of computers to another," he said.

"And when these anomalies turn up, we then start to dig into those - we want to make sure that the money that is spent goes to the people who need it."

Three hundred and thirty people have been caught claiming benefits they were not entitled to in Northern Ireland this year.