Four women in Málaga were arrested for pretending to be victims of domestic violence so that they could draw benefit payments.

There is no limit to the ingenuity to obtain money by fraudulent means, especially when times are tight, and this is the case of four women who hoped to obtain benefit payments of 400 euros a month as victims of domestic violence – women that leave their violent husbands receive this money to help with starting a new life.

Suspicions were raised at the Servicio Público de Empleo when irregularities were found in the paperwork belonging to one young women from Vélez-Málaga. Investigations carried out by inspectors lead to this 31-year-old woman being rumbled. She had obtained special benefit payment of the kind designed for those having especial difficulty finding work in exceptional circumstance.

The said woman had presented documentation that identified her as a gender-violence victim, supposedly issued by the community service belonging to the Council Department of Social Action at the Vélez Town Hall. The documents had all the right stamps, etc.

Closer inspection, however, showed that the documents were forgeries. The Social Worker who had supposedly signed the certificate had never even interviewed the woman.

One thing led to another and further investigation turned up that the same woman had reportedly provided forged documents for three other women in the town, from whom she had allegedly charged a commission.

(News: Velez-Malaga, Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia)