Benefit fraud is a crime, those found breaking the law could face a criminal record.
Once we have completed all our investigations, if we decide that we may take sanctions action against you, you will be asked to attend a taped interview under caution.
We can take different types of sanctions action depending on the amount of the overpayment and the claimant's circumstances:
-
We can pass the case to the Procurator Fiscal for prosecution
-
We can offer the person committing the fraud an Administrative Penalty which must be repaid as well as the overpayment and is an extra 30% of the overpaid amount.
-
We can offer the person a formal caution.
You can also read our Fraud and prosecution policy|.