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CRIME

Labour Agency reportedly orders ‘spying’ on welfare fraudsters

Welfare recipient advocats are warning of what they call “Stasi methods” at the Federal Labour Agency (BA) to catch people claiming fraudulent benefits, according to German media reports on Thursday.

Labour Agency reportedly orders 'spying' on welfare fraudsters
Photo: DPA

Daily newspaper Bild said the BA released new instructions on May 20 to all Hartz IV welfare offices that encourage “observation” in cases of “suspicion of an especially serious benefit misuse.”

Welfare workers will also increase the number of household visits where they are to get permission from beneficiaries to search closets and cabinets “when a statement of financial affairs isn’t possible,” the paper said. Details of the apartment searches will be logged in detail by room with particular attention paid to “peculiarities.”

News magazine Der Spiegel reported on Thursday that Labour Agency offices will employ private firms to carry out some of this surveillance, questioning neighbours and children about the suspected fraudster.

According to welfare advocacy organisations Gegen Hartz IV and Erwerbslosenforum Deutschland, an “anonymous report from a bitchy neighbour” would be adequate for an agency report, Der Spiegel said.

Spokesperson for Erwerbslosenforum Deutschland Martin Behrsig said his group is exploring legal action against the new policy, which he said are similar to feared East German Stasi police methods.

“We are legally required to fight the misuse of benefits,” a BA spokesperson told news agency DPA from Nuremberg on Thursday, adding that suc checks have been used for years.

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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