Suspected welfare money thief back in Denmark

Stockholm: A Danish woman suspected of stealing millions from a Danish state welfare agency has returned to Denmark and is now in police custody, Danish prosecutors said.

An international warrant was issued a month ago for the 64-yearold who is suspected of cheating the National Board of Social Services out of 111 million kroner (RM71.4mil).

The woman, identified by Danish media as Britta Nielsen, had worked at the board for 40 years. She was suspected of making 274 payments to her own bank accounts between 2002 and 2018 by faking projects.

A pretrial detention hearing was due, prosecutors said.

The scam was detected at the end of September during an audit at the board, a government agency under the Ministry for Children and Social Affairs.

The board funds programmes for vulnerable groups, including children and youth.

Nielsen was arrested on Monday in South Africa.

Staff from the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime were present at her arrest in Johannesburg.

Her voluntary return to Denmark was the result of a deal between her lawyers and authorities in Denmark and South Africa. Danish police officers were on the same flight to Copenhagen as Nielsen was.

A second suspect, a Danish man whose name has not been made public, also arrived along with Nielsen.

He was arrested last week in South Africa on suspicion of handling stolen property, but denies the allegations.