Hesse is planning closer cooperation with authorities against social benefit fraud

In the fight against organized fraud with social benefits, Hesse wants to improve cooperation between the authorities involved. In the future, police, municipalities and customs will exchange information according to clear rules, as Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) announced in the state parliament in Wiesbaden. The State Criminal Police Office is working with several cities and districts to develop a concept for a uniform approach throughout Hesse.

Poseck also announced that the “close controls” would continue. He emphasized that the focus was on organized structures. It is not about prosecuting minor crimes or placing people under general suspicion who are rightly dependent on support. Rather, it is about cases in which social benefits are systematically obtained using fictitious registrations, forged certificates and fictitious employment relationships.

According to the Hessian Interior Ministry, since mid-December 2025, police and other authorities have checked more than 4,400 people during three days of action and one week of action against social crime. They filed 227 criminal complaints, executed 36 arrest warrants and secured assets worth around 2.25 million euros.

The government's plan does not go far enough for the opposition

The Green MP Lara Klaes fundamentally welcomed the state government's plan. However, she warned that the additional controls could further strain the rule of law. Public prosecutors and courts could hardly cope with the growing number of cases, said Klaes. There is a lack of staff.

Yanki Pürsün, social policy spokesman for the Free Democrats, called for better exchange between the authorities. Although he called the days of action a success for the state government, they remained a “snapshot”. Even where there is concrete evidence of organized structures, “there is a lack of comprehensive data basis,” criticized Pürsün.

The AfD parliamentary group's social policy spokesman, Volker Richter, also criticized what he considered to be a thin data base and criticized the fact that there was no "appropriate controlling" for the state government's actions.

Social fraud endangers social cohesion

The CDU interior expert Thomas Hering emphasized the importance of a strong welfare state. This “does not leave people who need help alone”. Anyone who takes advantage of it not only damages public coffers, but also deprives those in need of support. “This endangers social justice and social cohesion,” said Hering.

There are cases of fraud in all generations, explained Hering. That's why it's all the more important to make the dark field visible and that can only be done through one thing: "Checks, checks, checks," emphasized Hering. “Cardness shouldn’t be a free pass” and that’s why the authorities need to work more closely together and exchange more information.

Cirsten Kunz-Strueder (SPD), domestic policy spokeswoman for her group, also emphasized the importance of the welfare state and the consistent prosecution of organized crime. This is not about false information from individual people, but about business models and structures “in which people are exploited and instrumentalized for the abuse of social benefits”. Anyone who follows the rules shouldn't be stupid, said Kunz-Strueder.