A number of people are to be arraigned in court in the coming days on grounds of alleged abuse in the award of invalidity pensions, the Family and Social Solidarity Ministry said yesterday.

In around April this year, the ministry said, it received information about alleged abuse in the process of awarding invalidity pensions to some applicants. After obtaining and examining preliminary information, the ministry forwarded the information to the police for the necessary investigation to be carried out.

This was not the first instance of abuse that it had referred to the police in its efforts against social benefits fraud, the ministry said. A case in point was the action taken recently against an employee of the Department of Social Security, who was arraigned in court following a report regarding unethical action in the award of children’s allowance. In a number of other cases, the efforts of the police had not yielded sufficient and concrete proof to enable them to proceed.

Referring reports to the police was not the only method that the ministry uses in its determination to stop benefits fraud, it said. The Department for Benefits Fraud and Investi-gation is working to carry out the government’s policy of ensuring that social assistance is given to those who need it, and to prevent fraud. The government is highlighting the importance of this department by increasing its resources with the addition of more employees to investigate reported and suspected cases of benefits fraud.

Last year, the Family and Social Solidarity Minister piloted through Parliament reforms in the system for awarding invalidity pensions, improving the process and ensuring that help is given to applicants who really cannot work because of a medical condition.