MOSCOW, November 29 - RAPSI. The number of criminal cases related to alimony evasion pending at the Federal Bailiff Service, exceeded 71,000 in 2011, up from 61,000 in 2010, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on Thursday.

"Currently alimony evasion cases are on the up rise," the press release reads.

The office said that most alimony case defendants are able-bodied individuals who do not wish work or who do odd jobs or who work unofficially.

Also, the office reported that frequently citizens who are obliged to pay alimony fail to comply with the court ruling and bailiffs do not follow through.

The Federal Bailiff Service reported that some 34,300 alimony evasion cases were initiated in the first half 2012, while the number of alimony recovery enforcement proceedings dropped from 1.23 million in 2007 to 881,000 in 2011.