McAz wrote:It still astonishes me that so many otherwise decent people direct their spite at those have the least - schadenfreude is a most unpleasant trait.
The issue is WHO is being deprived of any money as a result of dishonest activities.
If you're talking about bankers and financiers who're doing dishonest things which deprive the government of tax money then, sure, they need catching and punishing and the government needs to get the money it's owed.
If, OTOH, they're just taking advantage of legal methods of avoiding taxation, or if they're fiddling their investors, then the government really has no dog in that fight so there's little (financially) to be gained from pursuing them.
Personally, I tend to think the real reasons that governments are so keen to go after benefits claimants is 1) because it's good publicity and 2) because it's all they're capable of.
Let's face it, if you're a hedge fund manager who's getting paid half a million quid a year, it's probably because you're pretty good at your job.
That being the case, I doubt there are many people in the public sector who're capable of catching those people if they are doing something dishonest.
It's far simpler (and cheaper) to catch somebody who's carried on cashing their granny's pension two years after she snuffed it.