Thirty-eight members of a western Sydney family have been caught rorting $2 million of welfare payments from the government.
One person claimed benefits while depositing $750,000 over three years and another paid off a $300,000 mortgage in just over two years while claiming income support.
A third person received rent assistance for a property they already owned, said the Department of Human Services on Thursday.
A spokesman for the department says the family fraud was discovered from a tip-off that a man had failed to declare his income.
Nineteen family members have had their welfare payments cancelled after a wide-ranging investigation and another 19 have had their payments reduced.
Five members of the family have been referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and debts have been raised against the fraudsters.
She admitted there was one family member who had failed to report almost $1 million over 11 years, and her department is working closely with the Australian Tax Office and Australian Federal Police.
"The debts we currently have in relation to social welfare fraud investigations are $39 million," she said.
She warned people who are rorting the system that "we will find you".
Oh really? It took a tip-off for them to find this lot!
What about the other $37mil?
Australia the bountiful, Centrelink the inept.
