An audit has found that over MVR 5 million was issued by the government as income support to ineligible recipients.
The report prepared by the Auditor General's Office said many recipients of income support received over MVR 4.97 million by making fraudulent claims. Out of this amount, only MVR 213,884 have been recovered under the state's recovery efforts, the audit said. The report requested to recover the remaining MVR 4.76 million.
While MVR 421 million have been disbursed as income support for those whose income and employment were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, 22,946 individuals have received the funds to date. Income support was issued monthly from April 2020 to December 31, 2020.
The state had previously identified some individuals who claimed funds from the income support program fraudulently. Some cases were forwarded to the police for further investigation.
