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Australian Welfare Recipients Use Funds For Casino Gambling
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA --
Centrelink, the Australian answer to the United States Social Security Administration, pays out millions to elderly and other welfare recipients. But Australian police are now questioning whether those payments are funding gambling.
Law enforcement is looking at several potential cases of welfare fraud, in which unemployed persons and pensioners have been found to gamble millions of dollars at local casinos. One individual was identified as having wagered $13,000,000.
Centrelink has isolated at least two thousand suspicious cases of payments made to gambling patrons who bet more than $50,000. Joe Ludwig, Human Services Minister,called the gamblers "welfare cheats."
"What it's about is protecting taxpayers' money, but it's more than that, it's about ensuring welfare payments are a safety net, they're not for spending $12.9 million on gambling in a casino."
However, other observers defended the rights of the elderly to gamble if they chose. Tommy O'Bannon, a patron seen leaving the Crown Casino, said, "If they are getting benefits they don't qualify for, that's a crime no matter how they spend the money. But if they have the money coming, they should be left alone to do what they like with it."
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