84 cited for getting basic income

(ANSA) - Rome, November 20 - Some 84 people were cited Wednesday for getting the government's 'citizenship wage' basic income while working off the books between May and October this year, sources said.
    The 84 were discovered in police operations against gangmastering and other forms of exploitation.
    "In the course of the controls we discovered 84 people who were working off the books, but at the same time were getting the citizenship wage," said the head of the Carabinieri's job protection unit, General Gerardo Iorio.
    There have been several similar cases in the last few months.
    The basic income is one of the flagship policies of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).
    When it was passed, M5S leader Luigi Di Maio said "we have abolished poverty".
    Under the scheme. so-called 'navigators' help the unemployed get jobs.
    Applicants must take up one of three job offers or risk losing the benefit.
    There has been controversy over the failure to fill up all the navigators slots.
    Critics also say the policy is open to benefit fraud.