A former Greek policeman who invented 19 fictional offspring to claim benefits for what would have been the largest family in Greece has been arrested for fraud, Reuters reported.
He divorced and with no children of his own, quit his 1,000-euro-a-month job in 2001 and has been living solely on benefits ever since, police said on Thursday.
Using photographs of children he found online, the 54-year-old man forged birth certificates and other documents needed to claim benefits for at least one child a year since 1996. Police estimate he made at least 150,000 euros in claims over 15 years.
The fraud was so expert, police said, that they only realized something was amiss when they noticed his was the only Greek family with that many children. The average Greek family usually has two or three children.
据路透社报道，一名希腊前警察创造了19个虚构的孩子，以骗取儿童抚养费。他家曾经被认为是希腊拥有人口最多的家庭。
警方周四称，该男子54岁，于2001年离婚，婚后并无子女，他还辞掉了月薪1000欧元（约人民币8264元）的工作。从那时起，他就只依靠领取儿童抚养费过日子。
从1996年，他就开始在网上找孩子的照片，伪造出生证明和其它相关资料。警方估计，15年来他至少获益15万欧元（人民币124万元）。
警方称，他是造假高手，警方只察觉到，在希腊，他家是希腊唯一拥有如此多孩子的家庭，而这一点比较可疑，因为希腊一般家庭通常只生2-3个孩子。
