Denmark - Biker gangs on welfare

 cphpost.dk

OFF THE WIRE

Tax authority says bikers are living the lush life while exploiting the welfare system

An estimated 50 million kroner in public benefits is belived to have been paid to gang members during the first six months of the year (Photo: Scanpix)

More than half of the 1,170 people in Denmark with known connections to the Hells Angels and Bandidos biker gangs are also on the dole.
Some 593 members of biker gangs received 29,570,110 kroner in public assistance, in the form of cash benefits, disability and sick pay in the first six months of this year, according to recent numbers from the tax service, Skat.

Skat’s special gang unit was unsurprised by the latest numbers.
“In our experience, we can see when we are out investigating them that bikers aren’t interested in getting jobs,” Vagn Pedersen, Skat’s gang unit leader told the tabloid B.T.
“It’s generally the kind of macho culture where they like to show off, but at the same time they’re not afraid to ask for public help. So, if we can see that they have other valuables, like cars, motorcycles or big, gold chains, then these welfare benefits are one of the places where, with the help of the councils, we can stop the money from flowing,” Pedersen added.
Skat is currently working with 78 of the country’s 98 councils to determine the extent of welfare fraud involving gang members. Skat calculates that bikers and members of other criminal gangs received some 48,362,336 kroner in combined welfare benefits in the first half of 2011.
One thing Skat and other experts are sure of is that the proportion of bikers and other gang members on the dole is far higher than for the population at large.
“If you take their age and sex into account, there is no doubt that they are overrepresented [on the welfare lists] in comparison with the general population,” sociologist and Justice Ministry researcher Christian Klement told B.T.
Klement’s own earlier research showed that while eight percent of  law-abiding citizens received cash welfare benefits, 27 percent of bikers and gang members did.
“One explanation is that bikers, in particular, exploit social systems. But I believe that the primary reason is that these people are simply socio-economically disadvantaged,” Klement said. “We know very well that where you have socio-economically disadvantaged people, you typically have a larger proportion of criminals