Welfare councils loaned ¥1.4 billion in COVID relief to ineligible borrowers

Government-funded COVID-19 relief loans worth some ¥1.44 billion ($9.45 million) were extended to welfare recipients, who were not eligible for the lending, the Board of Audit of Japan has found.
Local social welfare councils provided COVID-19 relief loans to financially troubled households between March 2020 and September 2022 using subsidies from the welfare ministry.
Those on welfare were ineligible for the loans because they are already guaranteed a minimum standard of living.
The Board of Audit looked into such loans valued at around ¥824.26 billion that were provided in about 2,194,500 cases in 17 of the country’s 47 prefectures.
Of that amount, some ¥1.44 billion loaned in about 4,400 cases in 16 prefectures went to welfare recipients, according to the Board of Audit.
Social welfare councils failed to sufficiently check whether applicants for the loans were receiving welfare benefits, according to the Board of Audit.
Based on the findings by the Board of Audit, the welfare ministry asked social welfare councils last month to establish a system to check borrowers’ status retroactively against information on welfare recipients.