Pension fraud at INPS: four face trial over losses to the public purse totalling over 12.5 million

The Bergamo Financial Police have uncovered a major fraud against the INPS, which is alleged to have enabled 130 individuals to obtain pension benefits to which they were not entitled. The investigation, which concluded in October 2024, led to four people being charged, with the total loss to the state estimated at over 12.5 million euros.

According to the Financial Police’s investigation, at the heart of the fraudulent scheme was an official from the Bergamo provincial office of the INPS who is alleged to have deceived numerous people by leading them to believe that – in exchange for the payment of sums of money – it was possible to have periods of voluntary contributions credited to their accounts. The individual is said to have been assisted by two other people tasked with identifying potential beneficiaries.

Investigations show that the official allegedly gained unauthorised access to the INPS’s computer systems, entering fictitious periods of agricultural contributions. The individual then allegedly collected the money in cash from the people concerned, who were led to believe that the sums would be duly paid into the social security institution’s accounts.

The investigation carried out by the Guardia di Finanza also led to the identification of a former provincial director of the INPS in Bergamo and two other officials who, according to the findings, had failed to carry out the checks for which they were responsible, thereby contributing, albeit indirectly, to the fraud against the organisation. Consequently, the Court of Auditors has issued a writ of summons charging the four individuals with causing financial loss to the state amounting to over 12.5 million euros.