BENEFIT fraud investigations in Northern Ireland have caught people claiming tens of thousands of pounds from the public purse to which they were not entitled.
In 2018, a north Belfast mother-of-five was convicted after claiming almost £145,000 in housing benefit and income support she was not entitled to.
The court heard Pauline Donaghy's partner was named as the property's landlord, but investigations revealed they were living together and he was the father of three of her children.
Donaghy, of Ballysillan Road, who was then aged 42, was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
The judge said the overpayment, which occurred over a six-and-a-half year period, appeared to be "one of the largest ever prosecuted here".
Donaghy was paying back the money at a cost of £25 a week, which it was noted in court would take a century to repay.
In December last year, a west Belfast woman was convicted after claiming income support and housing benefit totalling £100,493 while failing to declare she was living with a partner.
Pamela Dickson (40), of North Howard Walk, was given a 12-month probation order and told to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained.
In 2015, a case against a then Sinn Féin councillor in Derry put pressure on the party over banking arrangements for some elected representatives.
Colly Kelly faced benefit fraud charges after claiming £19,000 in jobseeker's allowance despite receiving a wage for his council role.
However, a judge acquitted him after the court heard how his council salary was paid into an account going straight to Sinn Féin.
Mr Kelly told the court he had no "card, no cheque book, no access at all" to the account and that all his allowance went to the party.
The Irish News later uncovered that nine Sinn Féin councillors in Derry, including Mr Kelly, had their council allowances paid into the same account, prompting an Audit Office probe.
Sinn Féin initially defended the arrangement, but "following a local review" changed to individual accounts.
