141 cases of Severe Disability Assistance were terminated and over €2 million need to be recovered, the Social Policy Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday night, denying that it had not taken action against benefits fraud.

Three days after Sunday Times reported that former Labour MP Silvio Grixti was implicated in a scheme which saw people receiving benefits for disabilities they did not have or were not entitled to, the ministry denied accusations that action had not been taken on allegations of abuse.

Grixti resigned from parliament back in December 2021.

"The Income Support and Compliance Division within this Ministry in 2022 had passed on information to the police. This happened after this division within this ministry found a number of applications in which there was suspicion of alleged fraud or falsification of a number of medical documents."

It said that while the Division is not given details of the police investigations, the police had also asked for the details of all those who benefitted from  Severe Disability Assistance between 2019 and 2022. The relevant division had passed on the information, it said. "This does not mean that there has been abuse in all these cases."

It said that, "according to instructions given by the police and through the work done by the Income Support and Compliance Division, 141 cases of Severe Disability Assistance were stopped." This, it said, led to the start of recovering payments they were not entitled to that amount to €2.1 million. "So far, €330,000 has been recovered."

"The Division, as well as the Department of Social Security, grant medical benefits, including those for disability or invalidity, as recommended by doctors or medical boards, appointed for this purpose under Article 106 of the Social Security Act," the ministry said. "Consequently, these decisions are entirely dependent on the conclusions reached by medical professionals in the respective cases."

"It should also be noted that to date, the police have not given any instructions to take any action or sanction against any professional or professionals who are on the social security medical boards etablished by law. The Ministry for Social Policy and Children's Rights said it remains committed to addressing and strengthening the fight against all forms of social abuse and collaborates with other authorities in this work."

The ministry said it remains committed for social justice with those most vulnerable and to continue strengthening social benefits for those most in need, while acting to stop every type of abuse of any benefit.

"The Department of Social Security and the Social Security and the Income Support and Compliance Division work continuously to ensure that all kind of support goes to those who truly need it."

Speaking more generally, it said that the Income Support and Compliance Division as well as the Department of Social Security regularly scrutinize cases of alleged abuse through inspections without giving advanced warning, and that continuous compliance exercises are also practiced, "to ensure that the money is going to those who are eligible." These exercises and inspections resulted in the halting of benefits to people who did not deserve the payments, and through this millions of euros were saved and returned, the ministry said.