RIYADH: The Ministry of Social Affairs announced that it will take action against more than 175,000 ineligible candidates who have benefited in connivance with employees.

Majed Al-Osaimi, the information technology head at the ministry, said action has been initiated to stop the ineligible Social Security beneficiaries.

The number of applicants is said to be greater than those who are eligible. The focus now will be on the next phase involving those residing outside the Kingdom. These violators will not get any financial support.

The online system at this stage will also focus on those beneficiaries who own real estate following discovery of several cases receiving financial assistance by fraudulent means.

Al-Osaimi said that it is difficult at this stage to determine the amount of money illegally earned because of the nexus between data entry operators and beneficiaries.

The ministry has started taking legal action to recover funds from illegal beneficiaries and also against those employees who have been implicated in this conspiracy.

The ministry recently discovered that 178,564 beneficiaries of the Social Security scheme were not qualified for such financial assistance. The fraud came to light following the discovery of the technical linkage with government agencies which detect cases of fraud and manipulation.