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Rolf John aka Florida Rolf is a German citizen who gained unwanted fame when the newspaper Bild-Zeitung revealed that the unemployment benefits he received from Germany's social welfare system were enough for him to spend $2,000-2,400 a month on his spacious Miami, Florida apartment complete with housekeeper and driver. This case caused a political scandal in Germany causing a very rapid reform of German unemployment benefits under Chancellor Schröder.
Life
Rolf John spent most of his life as a wealthy banker in Osnabrück. However he lost his fortune and was divorced and by 1979 he suffered a mental breakdown and was diagnosed as disabled by a doctor. Since this diagnosis in 1979 he had received unemployment benefits for his living and housing expenses. For the past 14 years he had used these payments toward his Miami apartment and living expenses. Monthly benefits covered $875 in rent, $730 a month in living costs and $146 for a cleaner and driver. Rolf was not committing any fraud but was in fact taking advantage of German disability benefits abroad, which was not illegal at the time.
The German tabloid Bild Zeitung revealed the story in 2003 with front cover pictures of Rolf relaxing at Miami Beach. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and other German politicians who had long lobbied to cut social spending in Germany quickly used the uproar to cut the benefits to residents in foreign countries - a move that ended up costing tax payers more money, not less, as most people on disability payments who had left Germany had moved to countries with lower cost of living, such as Turkey and Spain.
References
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