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| Fraud Prevention |
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The National Insurance Institute (NII) pays the public some 45 billion shekels a year through benefits. The NII acts to maximize take-up of rights on the part of Israel’s citizens, so that all those entitled to benefits under the law will receive them. At the same time, it acts to prevent persons not entitled to benefits from receiving benefits illegally or from deceiving the NII.
The transfer of money to non-entitled persons reduces the budgetary pie from which the NII pays benefits and harms the public at large.
In order to prevent the illegal transfer of funds, the NII established an Investigations Department, as well as a Coordination Unit to deal with the problem of fraud on a criminal level together with the Israel Police Force.
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| The Investigations Department | |
The National Insurance Institute operates a nationwide investigation network with about 130 investigators who try to locate and expose fraud and to prevent exploitation of NII funds. The investigators locate and act against both benefit recipients who have received their benefits by presenting false information and employers who evade paying insurance contributions for their workers as obliged by law.
These investigations make use of NII data bases and an intelligence network based on information received from the public that exposes instances of fraud against the Institute.
The NII investigators have the authority to conduct investigations under the Criminal Procedure Ordinance. The findings of the investigations and testimony indicating suspected fraud charges are transferred to the National Unit for Economic Crime of the Israel Police Force.
To date, hundreds of indictments have been filed against claimants who received benefits fraudulently. Penalties imposed by the courts indicate the severity with which the courts view transgressions of the National Insurance Law.
The National Insurance Institute believes that the existence of an effective investigations system whose findings lead to filing charges will eventually lead to punishment of offenders and create a deterrent against those who try to obtain benefits fraudulently. |
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| Coordination Unit | |
With decision of the Israeli government on the establishment of a national police unit to combat economic crime (Hial"ach), the need arose for the establishment of a coordination unit at the NII to work with the police and the various law-enforcement officials in the country.
The aim of the Coordination Unit is to coordinate all cases investigated by NII investigators in which evidence of an alleged criminal offense of fraud against the NII has been found, and to transfer these cases to the nationwide Economic Crime Unit, where indictments are prepared and filed.
In the event that an insured person is convicted in a plea bargain, in addition to returning the money to the NII, he is fined by the court with the fine to be paid to the State and given both a period of probation and a criminal conviction.
The Coordination Unit provides the Economic Unit of the Police Force any and all assistance necessary to locate fraud cases against the National Insurance Institute, while drawing lessons and reaching conclusions. With the expansion of NII activities in detecting and investigating cases for which there is a suspicion of a criminal act, issues relating to insurance and collection of insurance contributions will also be treated, such as: employers who do not report on or do not pay contributions for their employees, setting up of fictitious companies and submitting false reports and statements. |
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