Government agency cracks down on fraudulent divorces

ANKARA

The Social Security Institution (SGK) has intensified its crackdown on fraudulent divorces, uncovering 2,404 cases in 2024 where individuals divorced their spouses to claim pensions while continuing to live together.

In Türkiye, single women can receive a payment called "orphan's pension" from the social security institution if their parents have passed away. To qualify for this pension, some women legally end their marriages on paper while continuing them in practice — violating regulations.

Legal proceedings have been initiated against these individuals, and steps have been taken to recover the payments with interest.

SGK, which employs nearly 3,000 inspectors, continues its extensive efforts to combat unregistered employment, fake workplaces, fraudulent insurance registrations and other forms of misconduct. As part of ongoing investigations, SGK carried out 3,002 inspections across Türkiye in 2024 targeting individuals suspected of fraudulent divorces.

Additionally, the institution conducted 124,982 inspections related to unregistered employment last year and examined 12,684 workplaces suspected of fraudulent insurance practices.

Inspections also uncovered 2,114 fake workplaces with 94,740 individuals found to be falsely registered as insured employees despite not working with the fraudulent businesses.

To combat unregistered employment, the institution imposed a total of 2.04 billion liras (around $56,000,000) in fines on non-compliant businesses. Efforts to integrate businesses and workers into the social security system led to the formal registration of 21,634 employees and the recognition of 518 new workplaces within the system.