Quantcast
Channel: Benefit fraud
Viewing all 1267 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

Southwark raises target on social housing fraud

May 28, 2013, 4:00 am
$
0
0
As London's largest social landlord, Southwark decided that a strategic approach to tackling fraud was required, setting an ambitious target of recovering 300 properties in 2012/13.

By the end of the financial year, Southwark had exceeded its target, freeing up 322 properties that could then be given to people with a genuine need. Although Southwark's housing stock makes up just one per cent of the total nationally, the 322 properties were the equivalent of 17 per cent of the total recovered across the country the previous year.

Southwark has now set itself an even more challenging target of recovering 500 properties in the current financial year, using new innovation to help prevent and detect fraud in this area.

With a housing waiting list of 20,000, Southwark is determined to free up as many homes as possible for genuine tenants.

The council's approach has been to target tenancy fraud from every possible angle, using the National Fraud Initiative and working with private sector companies such as Call Credit to trawl through vast quantities of data looking for anomalies that might point to a fraud.

Southwark has also worked with the UK Borders Agency and the Met Police to ensure that no stone is left unturned.

In 2012/13 Southwark successly prosecuted ten individuals for housing application fraud. The council will use new powers that will be introduced later this year to prosecute tenants who sub-let their council homes, which is not currently a criminal offence.

Well done, Southwark. Hopefully this is just the start. Social housing fraud is the wickedest type of benefit fraud. It doesn't just affect taxpayers, it denies subsidised housing to people who need it.
↧
Search

Hyndburn Council recovers £250k from benefit cheats

May 29, 2013, 4:24 am
$
0
0
Hyndburn Council said it has had an ‘outstanding year’ catching benefit cheats and recovering more than a quarter of a million pounds.

The authority reclaimed £264,204 over the past year of housing and council benefit which had been fraudulently claimed.

Investigators with the council’s benefit fraud team are celebrating a rise of almost 150 per cent on the previous year’s figure of £108,000.

A variety of detective techniques and one high-profile case worth almost £100,000 was said to be responsible for the surge.

Head of the team at Hyndburn Council, Mark Beard said different investigative techniques were used to catch cheats, depending on the case:
It calls for a different approach every time. Sometimes we use surveillance, sometimes more hi-tech methods. We have a flexible approach. There’s always a way to catch someone out.
The team last year also enjoyed a 100 per cent success rate in court prosecutions.

The most successful saw £99,149 recovered from 35-year-old Accrington mum Dawn Wood, who was jailed for lying about living with her partner, Robert Fletcher.

New figures show that over the 2012/13 financial year, Hyndburn’s benefit fraud team cautioned 70 benefit cheats and prosecuted another 26.

Some of the cases also had ‘national’ benefits involved including Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance.
↧
↧

£13k housing benefit fraud in Rochdale

May 30, 2013, 1:16 am
$
0
0
A fraudster who falsely claimed more than £13,000 in benefits in an elaborate Rochdale housing con has been sentenced.

Liam McGinty, 60, claimed £13,872 from Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council after using a friend to buy a Shelfield Lane property in Norden in 2003 with his cash for the deposit.

He then created a false tenancy at the house when he was in fact the owner of the property, and fraud investigators for the council soon became suspicious.

After investigating, they found that McGinty had transferred ownership of the house to himself in 2009 and provided false information to claim housing benefit which helped to pay the mortgage each month.

Mr McGinty originally pleaded not guilty but later changed his plea. He pleaded guilty to two counts of benefit fraud under the Social Security Administration Act 1992.

He has since repaid the benefit amount he falsely claimed and has been given a community order consisting of 140 hours unpaid work, a six month Supervision order and £250 in costs.
↧

Some Yorkshire authorities spurn Proceeds of Crime Act against benefit thieves

May 30, 2013, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
Fewer than half the councils in Yorkshire are using tough anti-fraud powers to claw back money for the taxpayer from benefit cheats, despite being urged to do so by the Government.

Research conducted by the Yorkshire Post found only nine of the region’s 21 local authorities have used Proceeds of Crime legislation in the past five years to force benefit cheats to hand back money they collected fraudulently from the taxpayer.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has told the country’s increasingly cash-strapped councils they should be using the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act to confiscate every penny possible from benefit cheats in order to boost town hall coffers.

Those councils in Yorkshire which have done so have often collected significant sums. In one single case, Scarborough Council – working alongside police and other agencies – clawed back more than £500,000 for the public purse.

Others have secured tens of thousands of pounds in the courts from people claiming benefits illegally.

But most authorities said they have not used the legislation at all in the past five years.

Selby Council said it “does not use” Proceeds of Crime legislation. Doncaster said it “does not employ” financial investigators and has not used the Act in the last five years, although it added in a statement that it works closely with police and Government officials wherever necessary.

Rotherham Borough Council said that despite a number of successful cases during the 2000s, it cut back its financial investigation team in 2009 and no longer conducts investigations using Proceeds of Crime laws.

A spokeswoman for Rotherham said: “Unfortunately, the highly-trained resource did not justify the results, which were not as successful as anticipated.”

The Government however, has made it clear it expects councils to do everything in their power to win money back in fraud cases.

Local Government and Communities Minister Baroness Hanham said:
Fraud costs this country more than £73bn a year – over £2bn of which is lost to local government. This is a complete waste of taxpayers’ money.

It is essential councils do everything they can to not only prevent fraud, but recover lost money and pursue fraudsters in court.
Responses to Freedom of Information requests made by the Yorkshire Post suggest there is no correlation between the size of a council and its success at clawing back funds from criminals.

Some of the region’s largest city councils including Sheffield, Bradford, Hull, Barnsley and York, said they have not used the legislation over the past five years. By contrast, tiny Ryedale District Council in North Yorkshire clawed back £55,000 earlier this year from a benefit claimant 
who failed to declare she owned multiple properties outside the district.

Scarborough has had a series of high-profile successes, banking more than £100,000 for local taxpayers since 2008.

Many of the North Yorkshire authorities use a shared fraud investigation service based in York, called Veritau, to conduct investigations on their behalf.

Clare Slater, head of corporate services at Ryedale Council, said:
Benefit fraud is taken very seriously by Ryedale, and we endeavour to ensure that all possible action is taken to bring to justice those who defraud the system.

We have an excellent relationship with our anti-fraud partners, Veritau, and together in the interest of taxpayers in Ryedale we will continue to actively investigate and prosecute those who defraud the public purse.
Wakefield Council has confiscated £33,000 from three benefit cheats over the past four years. Kirklees clawed back £64,000, sharing the money with the proceeds with the Home Office and courts service.

Last year the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) produced a list of 50 ways it believes councils should be saving money as the public spending squeeze continues.

The list included using Proceeds of Crime legislation to claw back extra funds, citing the example of a council in London which won more than £400,000 in a single case last year.

A DCLG spokesman said: “The National Fraud Authority has estimated that councils could save £2.2bn a year by cracking down on fraud and improving their prevention, detection and recovery of council fraud.

“Councils cannot afford to have resources meant for vulnerable people and front line services being stolen by fraudsters.”
↧

Stourbridge mum jailed over £110k benefit scam

May 31, 2013, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
A Stourbridge mum who fiddled more than £110k in benefits because she thought she "could get away with it" has been jailed for 15 months. (h/t Dave)

Recorder Christopher Donnellan QC told 53-year-old mother of two Valerie Garbett it was clear she had "cheated" the system for nine years - "a significant period of time."

Garbett told investigators after her arrest the money had gone on "buying better quality trainers for the children and family holidays."

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Garbett’s scam ran from 2002 to 2011 when she began claiming benefits on the basis she and her husband were unemployed even though he had a full-time job.

Philip Garbett, her 57-year-old husband, obtained NHS vouchers and three pairs of glasses during the fiddle when, said the Recorder, he had "aligned himself to the position taken by his wife."

Valerie Garbett admitted four charges of benefit fraud and was jailed.

Philip Garbett, a lorry driver of the same address, also admitted fraud and was placed on supervision for a year, ordered to carry out 40 hours unpaid work in the community and to pay £590 compensation to the NHS.

Siobhan Collins prosecuting said investigations revealed Philip Garbett had been employed full time since 2002.

The total overpayment was £110,063, said Miss Collins, and when interviewed Valerie Garbett maintained her husband had been totally ignorant about her actions.

Simon Williams defending Valerie Garbett told the court she accepted full responsibility for the fraud. He said: "After it started she did not know how to stop. She is full of remorse for what she has done."

Full of remorse for stealing for nine years? More like full of remorse for getting caught.
↧
↧

Conditional discharge for ex-police benefit thief

June 1, 2013, 2:04 am
$
0
0
A former police officer was paid more than £6,500 in disability living allowance – despite working as a driver and coffin bearer for a funeral director. (h/t Mick)

But Michael Clarke, 55, walked free from court after he was sentenced to a conditional discharge.

Magistrates heard Clarke, of Hemsworth near Pontefract, was medically discharged from the police force after suffering a stroke in 2004 while working as a traffic officer.

The court at Wakefield heard the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) granted him an indefinite disability living allowance in 2004, which paid for a mobility car. However, an inquiry later launched by the DWP revealed Clarke had worked for A&M Hadfield funeral directors as a driver and coffin bearer since April 2010. The court was told he had helped out at up to 48 funerals.

When interviewed by the DWP, Clarke told investigators his health had improved from 2009 onwards. Clarke, who has appealed against the DWP decision to stop his disability benefits, admitted failing to notify the DWP of a change in circumstances affecting his entitlement to benefits.

Prosecutor Rory Byrne said Clarke received a total of £6,516 in benefit payments which he should not have done while working for the funeral director.

Mr Byrne added: “Part of the role involved carrying coffins, and at some point lowering coffins in to the grave.”

The court heard Clarke had £8,000 in savings and was being paid his £1,300 a month police pension while he was getting the benefit payments.
↧

Sentencing of benefit thieves

June 1, 2013, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
Samantha Perks, from Semington, failed to declare £20,000 when she applied for the benefit and received £3,847 between April 2009 and February 2012. Magistrates gave her a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered her to pay costs of £75.

Just go away and don't do it again.

Joanna Holstein, aged 23, posed as a single mum to con £7,400 from the taxpayer. Magistrates fined her £150 and ordered her to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £15. Nick Jefferies, Head of the South Worcestershire Revenues and Benefits Service, said: “We consider benefit fraud to be a serious matter".

Shame the magistrates don't agree with Nick that benefit fraud is serious.

A woman who faked documents to skip court has pleaded guilty to fraud after claiming almost £5,500 of housing benefits.

Julie Ottewell claimed housing benefits at her rented property on Main Street, Ravenshead. She missed nine court appearances and provided Nottingham Magistrates Court with a GP letter and medical certificate saying she was too ill to attend and was in hospital in Oxford during one of the hearings. Investigations found the documents to be fake and that she was working when she should have attended court.

Ottewell and husband David claimed Housing and Council Tax benefit without mentioning her job at The Friesland School, Sandiacre, where she had worked since 2004. Ottewell also claimed Income Support from the Department for Work and Pensions from June 2011. She appeared before Nottingham Magistrates on May 23, after handing herself in to police and pleaded guilty to two offences of benefit fraud. She will be sentenced on June 11, at either Nottingham Magistrates or Crown Court, and is currently on conditional bail.

Councillor John Clarke, Leader of Gedling Borough Council, said:
It is clear that not only has this person attempted to deceive the council but has the audacity to attempt to deceive the courts as well.

We expect the Courts to take the firmest possible action and deter anyone else who is thinking about making a false claim.
We all do - but there was no sign of the courts doing their public duty in the two cases above.
↧

Jail for £119k benefit thief mother

June 2, 2013, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
A benefit fraudster was jailed for 14 months after illegally pocketing £120,000 of taxpayers money.

Tracey Pembroke, 41, from Thatcham, did not tell West Berkshire Council or the Department for Work and Pensions that she was living with her partner Marc Pembroke from 2002 to 2010. That resulted, a court heard, in her being overpaid £89,270 in housing and council tax benefit and £30,251 in income support.

Jailing Pembroke at Reading Crown Court on Friday, May 10, Judge Ian Grainger said: "The substantial aggravating feature in this case is that although not fraudulent from the outset the claims became so rapidly.

"There is also some evidence of extravagance although not on the scale one sometimes comes across. You used the benefit to fund a part-time nursing degree. That would be no justification for these appalling offences."

Pembroke paid for holidays, cars and hotel stays throughout the eight years and pretended she was a single parent to boost the amount she was being paid.

She pleaded guilty to 12 charges relating to benefit fraud, mis-representation and fortifying documents on Thursday, April 4, and Judge Grainger added:
This kind of benefit fraud is a serious social evil, it went on for eight years, the value is just under £120,000. Your counsel sensibly acknowledges that there will be a custodial sentence but urges me to suspend it.

Having considered this carefully I do not feel that that course is one I could take, given the amounts involved and the length of the fraud, despite the guilty plea and length of time since the offences.

Council finance leader, Cllr Alan Law, said:
This is a great result which reflects the severity of the crime. The council will not hesitate to take legal action to bring fraudsters to justice.
↧
Search

No jail for £90k repeat benefit thief

June 4, 2013, 1:05 am
$
0
0
Weighing 28 stone, Tracey Shellard claimed she was so unwell she could hardly walk and struggled even to make a cup of tea.

Over the years Shellard, 49, claimed almost £100,000 in benefits by detailing severe health problems linked to her obesity.

But her sob story, a court heard, turned out to be a big fat lie.

While receiving the benefits, Shellard went on a strict calorie-controlled diet and began to lose vast amounts of weight, slimming down to 10 stone.

Yet she hid the news from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Far from being incapable of looking after herself, she ditched her mobility scooter, began taking her dog on long walks and was fit enough to carry heavy shopping bags.

A covert surveillance operation was launched by the DWP, and she was spotted carrying a 32-inch television from the shops.

Eventually Shellard was arrested and hauled before the courts, where she admitted four charges of failing to notify of a change in circumstances.

She was branded a ‘lying scrounger’ by the judge at Manchester Crown Court, but was spared jail, despite a previous conviction for benefit fraud in the 1990s.

Jonathan Rogers, prosecuting, told the court that Shellard had been overpaid a total of £98,000, although she would have been entitled to £8,000 of the cash in tax credits if she had been honest.

She claimed disability living allowance from 2000, with payments increased to a higher rate after she detailed health problems linked to her obesity.

However, in 2008, Shellard began getting more exercise and lost eight stone. By 2011, she had lost a further ten stone.

After she was arrested in September 2011, she got a job at a nursing home, working up to 48 hours a week.

Shellard also lied about living alone to rake in income support, housing benefit, and council tax benefit.

In fact, she was living with her husband of 23 years, who was in work and supporting her financially. Denise Fitzpatrick, defending, said Shellard had ‘learned her lesson’.

Handing her a 12-month suspended sentence, with a six-month curfew and 80 hours of unpaid work, Recorder Craig Sephton QC said she had been ‘taking money this country desperately needs to serve your own ends’.

The judge said he took into account that she had got a job and had completed training courses which meant she had made herself ‘a useful member of society instead of a sponger’.

Back in 2003, she had said in a DWP interview that she struggled to stand up again after sitting down, used a walking stick indoors, needed help to stop her ‘sliding off pillows’ in bed, couldn’t make a cup of tea without dropping it, and was dependent on a mobility scooter when she left the house.

She told officers: 'If I had help I would go everywhere - I just want to be normal, but I know that will never be.'
↧
↧

Benefit thief told to repay at £400 a month

June 5, 2013, 1:04 am
$
0
0
A woman who claimed she lived alone in order to illegally pocket more than £22,000 in housing and council tax benefit has been ordered to repay the money she fraudulently claimed. (h/t Dave)

Deborah Reynolds, from Barnet, was handed an eight-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to committing the fraud.

The 45-year-old mother of two was ordered to repay the money at a rate of £400 per month.

Hurrah. We want to see more orders like this.

An investigation was launched after a housing association alerted the council’s Corporate Anti-Fraud Team to the possible fraud.

Investigators quickly established that Reynolds had been claiming benefits for five years but at no point had she declared that she was living with her partner who was working.

It was revealed that the crook had deliberately altered a copy of her tenancy agreement to conceal the fact that she did not live alone when submitting it along with her benefits applications. Over the years Reynolds had completed six claim applications but at no point declared her true circumstances.

During interview she denied having done anything wrong.

An interview with her partner revealed that he was unaware of the scam. During the period of the fraud, Reynolds’ partner paid the rent in full for their property unaware that she was pocketing money being claimed illegally.
  • Benefit thieves do it for the money. They should know they will have to pay back twice what they stole. They should not be eligible for any benefits until they have, and they should have to do some unpaid work every week until the debt to society is cleared.

    That would be a deterrent.

    Hit them in the pocket!
↧

£41k benefit cheat ordered to pay back only £2.5k

June 5, 2013, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
A man who made more than £41,000 through benefit fraud will only have to pay back £2,561.

Christopher Berriman from Bridlington must pay it back within six months or will be jailed for 56 days.

He appeared at Hull Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing. Prosecutor Richard Thompson said: "He was prosecuted for benefit fraud and it was calculated the benefit was £41,625.92. The available amount is £2,561.39. This figure is based on equity in the matrimonial home but, in reality, the funds are likely to come from elsewhere."

Berriman's barrister Peter Byrne said he had no objections to the plans and would repay the money in full.

Judge Mark Bury said: "The defendant can have six months to pay that sum. If he defaults, he will go to prison for 56 days."
↧

House in social housing fraud recovered

June 6, 2013, 4:00 am
$
0
0
A man who claimed housing benefit while earning more than £50,000 has been jailed for eight months.

Kouadio Williams, 43, fraudulently claimed £32,067 towards his rent while living in Charlton Road, Edmonton.

But suspicion fell on Williams after Enfield Council’s Counter Fraud Team received information from Milton Keynes Council proving he also owned a flat in Milton Keynes which was being rented out at £650 a month.

Williams, who went on to live in Ramsgill Court, in Heelands, Milton Keynes, was caught living on benefits with his wife and children while he was working for several employers, with one job attracting a wage of £50,000.

Williams pleaded not guilty to four charges of dishonestly failing to promptly notify Enfield Council of a change in circumstances but was found guilty and sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on May 23.

Cllr Andrew Stafford, Enfield Council's Cabinet member for finance and property said:
This fraud was committed not because of desperation but out of sheer greed.

Kouadio Williams was in receipt of an income many people could only dream about, but still he felt the need to claim benefits. This is shameful and it is absolutely right the court should jail him for this disgraceful crime.

Enfield Council always prosecutes benefit fraudsters to the full extent of the law, and we will do everything we can to seize any assets that Mr Williams has if we can to recoup our money.
The property in Edmonton has been recovered by the Counter Fraud Team’s housing investigation officers and a tenant from the housing waiting list has been rehoused there. 

Well done, Enfield! Let's get our £32k back too.
↧

Light sentence for blatant benefit theft

June 6, 2013, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
A man has admitted cheating Basildon Council out of more than £7,000.

Kirk Gibson admitted five charges of fraudulently claiming council tax benefit and jobseekers allowance.

Gibson was fined £120 for each offence and ordered to pay £1,788 costs and a victim surcharge of £15. He had also repaid all the money he wrongly claimed.

Gibson claimed a total of £7,535. He cheated the council out of £2,744 between April 20, 2009 to August 26, 2012 and also claimed £4,789 of jobseekers allowance to which he was not entitled, between October 2009 and March 2012.

He was prosecuted after the authorities discovered Gibson had failed to declare as much as £95,000 he had stashed in the bank.

Where is the punishment here? He stole over £7,500 and has had to pay an extra £2,043 - a minor inconvenience when you have £95,000 in the bank. No unpaid work.

Benefit thieves should have to repay twice what they've stolen.
↧
↧

Another light benefit fraud sentence in Cornwall

June 11, 2013, 10:00 pm
$
0
0
A man from St Ives has pleaded guilty to a £6,300 benefit fraud.

Adam James pleaded guilty to two counts of housing benefit and council tax benefit fraud totalling £6,314.44 after failing to promptly report to Cornwall Council that his earnings had increased.

Mr James was fined £180, plus £20 victim surcharge and was also ordered to pay £100 towards the council’s investigation and legal costs.

The overpaid benefits are being recovered by Cornwall Council separately from the court action.
  • So that's penalties of £300 for stealing £6,300 - not even 5%. Yet an administrative penalty could have been as much as 30%. And Cornwall Council are still left to recover the money separately.

    Benefit thieves do it for the money. They should know they will have to pay back twice what they stole. They should not be eligible for any benefits until they have, and they should have to do some unpaid work every week until the debt to society is cleared.

    That would be a deterrent.

    A confiscation order should be made immediately.

    Hit them in the pocket!
↧

Benefit cheat tycoons to have assets seized in tough crackdown

June 12, 2013, 1:00 am
$
0
0
Fraudsters who fund criminal empires with falsely claimed benefits will have their assets seized, as well as face jail, under sweeping new laws, reports The Express.

Teams of elite investigators will hunt some of Britain’s canniest crooks who cheat the taxpayer out of hundreds of thousands of pounds to prop up their illegal businesses.

The Department for Work and Pensions thinks the scam is so widespread it will seize assets worth an astonishing £13.5million this year alone.

New powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act mean investigators can force criminals to pay back far more than they originally stole. If they refuse, they can be jailed.

The get-tough action is another bid by Government to flush out those who see the welfare state as a limitless cash machine.

One recent success was the identification of Sly Malik, who received £39,000 in false benefit claims but was forced to pay back more than £1million.

A court ordered Malik, 48, of Barking, east London, to pay back £1,031,943 within 12 months or face five years in prison after being found guilty of 12 charges of benefit fraud.

Malik claimed jobseeker’s allowance and housing benefit, despite having a vast property empire and 70 bank accounts hiding more than £200,000.

Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform, said:
We know some criminals are cheating the benefits system and then using the stolen money to build up assets, own homes or live the high life. Criminals like these should know that not only are we going after the money they have stolen from us, but we’re going to force them to hand back money made off the back of their fraud.
Courts made 271 confiscation orders worth £8.9million last year.

In the current year, investigators estimate seizures will rise by 50 per cent.

Fraudster Emidio Miguel Salvador Do Santos, 39, of West Norwood, south London, was ordered to pay back £178,733.21 within six months or face two-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of opening bank accounts in false names and altering names on DWP and HMRC cheques.

Another crook, Michael Meade, 58, of Cheltenham, Gloucs, was forced to pay back £63,027 after investigators found his cash was tied up in investment bonds – which will be paid back to the taxpayer when they mature.

Meade was caught when he failed to declare an inheritance and that his wife was working.

The Government’s radical welfare reforms have already started in some areas with more than 50 benefits replaced by the single Universal Credit.

A benefits cap of £26,000 will mean no family is better off by being out of work.

Jackie Raja, head of the DWP’s financial investigations unit, confirmed that benefit fraudsters could now be ordered to hand over assets they cannot justify.
↧
Search

Reigate couple jailed for benefit fraud

June 12, 2013, 5:00 am
$
0
0
A Reigate couple have been jailed for a total of 18 months after they were convicted of falsely claiming more than £75,000 in benefits.

John Ronald Cattrall, 43, and Julia Jones, 41, were sentenced at Guildford Crown Court after a jury found them guilty of a total of nine charges. Cattrall was sentenced to 12 months and Jones to 6 months.

Under the fraud, which dates back to August 2000 and lasted for almost 11 years, they claimed £49,031 in housing benefit and £12,246 in council tax benefit that they were not entitled to, plus £14,093 in income support from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

The fraud was uncovered by the council’s corporate anti-fraud investigators, working in partnership with the DWP and Surrey Police. They revealed the couple had been living together as husband and wife since August 2000, contrary to their declarations on their benefit claims.

The couple were arrested at their home by Surrey Police on July 14 2011 and evidence was recovered. They were then interviewed by council investigators whilst in custody at Reigate Police Station. After pleading not guilty at an earlier hearing, the case progressed to a trial, which ran from April 22 to May 6.

That's nearly two years later.

Following sentencing, Councillor Julian Ellacott, executive member for housing and welfare at the council, said:
We work hard to prevent, detect and investigate all types of fraud against the council. Housing and council tax benefit is there for people who really need it and we will not tolerate those who abuse the system.

The court has seen all of the relevant evidence and found Mr Cattrall and Miss Jones guilty, and handed down a custodial sentence which highlights the serious nature of these crimes. I hope this serves as a warning to others that cheating the system does not pay.”
Separate to the court action, the council is pursuing repayment of the full overpaid benefits of £103,000 from the pair for their whole claim period, 1997 to 2011. The council will also be seeking payment of its legal costs from them at a subsequent hearing.

A confiscation order should be made at the same court hearing, rather than causing taxpayers extra expense and even more delay.
↧

Councillor demands deterrent sentences for benefit frauds

June 12, 2013, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
A benefits cheat who tried to deceive the courts by providing a fake doctor's letter has been ordered to do 150 hours community service. (h/t Dave)

Julie Ottewell, from Shipley, had admitted fraudulently claiming almost £5,500 while working at a local school.

Ottewell missed nine court appearances and provided Nottingham Magistrates Court with a letter from her GP along with a medical certificate stating she was too unwell to attend court and was in hospital in Oxford at the time of one of the hearings. Further investigations found the documents to be fake, and discovered that she was in fact at work when she should have attended court.

In May 2011, Ottewell claimed Housing and Council Tax benefit with her husband, David Ottewell, for their privately rented property on Main Road, Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire. In the application she failed to declare that she was working for The Friesland School in Sandiacre and had done so since 2004. She also fraudulently claimed Income Support from the Department for Work and Pensions from June 2011.

Ottewell finally handed herself in to police and appeared in custody before Nottingham Magistrates on May 23, 2013. She pleaded guilty to two offences of benefit fraud as she had not declared her employment at The Friesland School. Magistrates have now ordered her to do 150 hours community service.

Councillor John Clarke, Leader of Gedling Borough Council, said
It is clear that not only has this person attempted to deceive the council but has the audacity to attempt to deceive the courts as well. We expect the Courts to take the firmest possible action and deter anyone else who is thinking about making a false claim.
↧
↧

Jail for second benefit theft offence

June 13, 2013, 4:00 am
$
0
0
A 49-year-old Chester man has received a jail sentence after pleading guilty to benefit fraud amounting to more than £8,000.

Paul Cooper appeared before Chester Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to knowingly failing to promptly declare changes in his circumstances to the Department for Works and Pensions and Cheshire West and Chester Council which he knew would affect his entitlement to Job Seekers Allowance and Housing and Council Tax Benefit.

Cooper had completed periods of employment and was overpaid in excess of £8,000,.

Chester Magistrates Court sentenced Cooper to six weeks imprisonment. He had previously been prosecuted for a similar offence in 2010.

Cooper is also required to repay the overpaid benefit to Cheshire West and Chester Council.
↧

‘Jiving’ benefit cheat risks losing his home after scam

June 13, 2013, 4:00 pm
$
0
0
A benefit cheat caught jiving after claiming he couldn't walk without two sticks faces being made homeless - after being ordered to repay £11,000, reports The Sun.

Leonard Priestley raked in £14,025 in disability living allowance over four years after he complained it took him four minutes to walk ten yards.

But the 58-year-old's scam was exposed when a government surveillance team filmed him carrying large items – as well as attending energetic dance lessons once a week for four years.

Priestley, from East Bowling, Bradford, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a 12-month community order with supervision.

But he was back in the dock this week at Bradford Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime hearing.

Prosecutor Robert Stephenson said the total amount payable was £11,000.

Judge Jonathan Durham-Hall gave Priestley six months to pay or face eight months in prison - but the fraudster has revealed he will have to put his house up for sale to pay his debt.

Priestley said:
I know what I did was wrong. I originally started the dance lessons because my doctor told me I needed to try exercising to help my mobility. A friend suggested I came along to a dance lesson with him, and it’s helped.”
The court heard that benefits officers had Priestley under surveillance between March and September 2011, when they discovered he had attended dance classes once a week for four years.

Judge David Hatton QC asked at the time: “What sort of dance classes?”

“Jive, and kicks and turns and the like,” the prosecutor replied.

Priestley said his original benefit claim had been genuine - but he failed to notify the authorities when his condition improved. He said: "I meant to let the DWP know that my mobility had improved but family issues kept cropping up so I never got round to it."

The court heard how Priestley has already paid £910 – but he said he will have to sell his house in order to repay the debt.

The fraudulent period spanned from November 2007 to November 2011.
↧

Preston anti-fraud team identifies £460k cheats

June 14, 2013, 4:00 am
$
0
0
Preston Council’s anti-fraud team identified nearly £500,000 of fraudulent benefit claims last year.

The team achieved 80 sanctions, including 31 prosecutions, in Preston during 2012/13.

They identified fraudulent claims to the value of £462,132 by investigating referrals.

The team was set up to protect public funds by detecting and stopping as much Housing and Council Tax Benefit fraud as possible. It works with agencies such as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), HM Revenues & Customs, Lancashire Police and Immigration officials.

Preston Council’s cabinet member for resources, Coun Martyn Rawlinson, said:
This report highlights the ongoing excellent work of the council’s counter fraud team, for which they have previously won awards. The skilled and dedicated staff work in partnership with the DWP on a daily basis to detect those out to defraud the taxpayer. These achievements should act as a stark warning to anyone not being entirely truthful with any benefit claims.
The team consists of seven staff, including four fraud officers, who also carry out work for Fylde Council as part of a shared service arrangement.

This five-year deal, which runs until August 2014, earns the council £106,000 per year.

In 2011 the team won the Gold Award for Excellence in Partnership Working at the Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation awards and since 2011 has also managed the Claim Security Team at Lancaster Council.
↧
Viewing all 1267 articles
Browse latest View live
Search
<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>