Danish Social Worker Convicted Over $17 Million Welfare Fraud

(Bloomberg) -- A court in Copenhagen has sentenced a 65-year-old social worker to 6.5 years in prison after she was found guilty of embezzling $17 million of welfare money for decades.

Britta Nielsen was extradited from South Africa, where she had fled after becoming a suspect in what is considered the worst corruption scandal of its kind.

Read more: Interpol Chases Danish Woman Suspected of $17 Million Fraud

The case has shocked Denmark, which ranks first in the Transparency International index. The Nordic nation is still trying to track down billions of dollars lost through a combination of tax evasion and a botched handling of foreign claims on dividend taxes. Meanwhile, Denmark’s biggest lender, Danske Bank A/S, is at the center of an historic money laundering scandal.

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