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Jail for £12k benefit thief

May 6, 2015, 2:43 am
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A Bedford benefit cheat has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to fraudulently accepting money he was not entitled to.

Darren Sweeney, 49, received £12,183 in Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Income Support after claiming benefits as a single man who had been signed off work sick.

However, Bedford Borough Council Investigators discovered Sweeney instead had a partner living with him, who was employed and providing financially for the upkeep of their home.

When questioned by Council Investigators, Sweeney admitted his partner had initially moved in with him following an operation he had on his knee.

Yet, by failing to declare this change in his circumstances to the Council and the Department for Work and Pensions, Sweeney continued receiving benefits that he was not entitled to.

Luton Magistrates considered a recommendation from the Probation Service that Sweeney be given a Community Punishment Order but decided the matter was so serious that immediate custody was warranted. Following the verdict, he was escorted from the courthouse and taken directly to prison.

A Council spokesperson said: “This sentence is welcomed by Bedford Borough Council and demonstrates the consequences awaiting those who are, or are thinking about, fraudulently obtaining benefits, discounts or services from the Council. We hope this case will serve as a deterrent to anyone thinking of committing fraud and will make them reconsider; with these strict punishments in place the question is whether it’s really worth the risk.”

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Dozy Dacorum lumbers into 2013

May 7, 2015, 12:00 am
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A 'no questions asked' key amnesty is being launched by Dacorum Borough Council to stop illegal subletting of council properties.

During June, the council will be giving tenants who are either illegally subletting or not living in their council homes the chance to hand their keys back with no questions asked.

Tenants will be sent a letter during May explaining that since the introduction of the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013, it is a criminal offence if they have a tenancy with the council but live elsewhere and sublet the property to another person, which is also a breach of their tenancy.

Yes, 2013, dozy Dacorum.

Anyone who hands in their keys to end their tenancy between June 1 and 30 will not have legal action taken against them for either subletting or not occupying their homes. This will allow the council to re-let the properties to legitimate applicants on the Housing Register.

Andy Vincent, group manager for tenants and leaseholders, said: "We have 5,388 people on our housing register who are in need of a home, and illegal subletting deprives them of this. The key amnesty will give us a chance to help those families in need of housing."

Immediately after the key amnesty end on Tuesday, June 30, the council will be conducting a major crackdown on tenants who sublet or abandon their properties.

Any tenants found illegally subletting their council homes could face up to two years in prison, a fine of up to £50,000 and will also have to pay any profits they've made.

When dozy Dacorum Council get round to it.

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Enfield prosecutes illegal sub-letter

May 13, 2015, 12:20 am
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A local authority has used new laws to prosecute a woman who sublet her home unlawfully.

Former London and Quadrant tenant Yasmine Maya, from Waltham Abbey, pleaded guilty to illegally subletting her L&Q flat in Edmonton as well as admitting other charges in relation to benefit fraud.

She was ordered to undertake 250 hours of unpaid work as well as receiving a sentence of 16 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Unlawful subletting of a social housing property became a criminal offence under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 and Enfield Borough Council has become the first in the UK to prosecute someone.

Investigators from London and Quadrant became suspicious that Ms Maya was not living at her flat in Edmonton, they contacted their counterparts at Enfield Council and a joint investigation was undertaken.

Not only was she found to be subletting the flat illegally but a benefit fraud to the value of £42,000 was also discovered following Ms Maya’s failure to declare income from employment as well as savings held in undeclared bank accounts.

Councillor Andrew Stafford, cabinet member for finance, said: “Enfield Council has broken new ground by being the first local authority to use this new legislation to crack down on a benefit fraudster. Those that profit from sub letting social housing are criminals so I am delighted we have been successful bringing this criminal to book.”

Councillor Ahmet Oykener, cabinet member for housing and estate regeneration, said: “Sub letting a council property denies housing to those most in need in the borough, and also lines the pockets of fraudsters who often let to unsuspecting people, who can then find themselves homeless when the fraud is discovered. Enfield Council regularly makes checks to ensure subletting doesn’t happen in our borough, and if anyone should suspect this is taking place they should report it straight away.”

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Poll: 66% believe housing benefit fraud is a big problem

May 13, 2015, 4:00 pm
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As a new Conservative government takes charge, tenancy fraud is highlighted as a big problem across the UK with the illegal claiming of housing benefit seen as the biggest problem of all, according to latest findings from Callcredit Information Group.

It has been estimated that tenancy fraud currently costs councils across the UK £1.8 billion each year. The independent research undertaken by YouGov looked into the types of housing fraud that were seen as the biggest problem by the public, and if the money could be recovered what councils should spend it on. Interestingly respondents across all age groups and regions prioritised affordable housing (50 per cent) as the area to spend recovered money, indicating a united view that more needs to be done to help solve the housing crisis.

The research also revealed a widespread recognition there is a tenancy fraud issue with national unity across the findings and attitudes hardening amongst the older generation.

When asked how big a problem, if at all, do you think tenancy fraud is? The respondents indicated the following was a big problem:

Illegal claiming of housing benefit – 66 per cent
Illegal sub-letting of social housing – 55 per cent
Non-occupancy of social housing by tenants, leaving property empty – 46 per cent
False claiming of the single person discount in social housing – 53 per cent

When asked if tenancy fraud costs could be recovered, what do you think councils should spend it on? The top three findings were:

Affordable housing – 50 per cent
Local healthcare services – 40 per cent
Roads and pavements - 28 per cent

Andrew Davis, Director of public sector, Callcredit Information Group said:
There has been considerable government effort over the past five years to tackle the high levels of fraud and error in the public sector. It is essential that the new Conservative government maintains efforts to reduce fraud and minimise error to help eradicate the deficit. Housing benefit fraud and error cost the taxpayer around £1.2 billion per year and single person discount fraud is currently responsible for an estimated £90 million fraud loss per year. These figures combined with our results highlight that local authorities need to do to more to reduce tenancy fraud and show the public they are taking action to improve fraud and error detection. The savings could make a significant contribution to the public purse and could be used to build more affordable homes, which are urgently needed.
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Immigrant stole over £30k in benefits

May 14, 2015, 1:32 am
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A car valeter dishonestly pocketed more than £30,000 in benefits in a fraud spanning almost five years, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Ako Salih claimed the money while working self-employed for two periods, between July 2007 and May 2013.

Salih came to the UK from Iraq in 2002 and was granted indefinite leave to stay.

He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to eight offences of benefit fraud, totalling £30,874, prosecutor Emma Downing told the court.

She said the claims related to Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Job Seeker's Allowance and Employment Support Allowance.

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Care worker guilty of £18k benefit fraud

May 18, 2015, 12:00 am
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Keirderin Knight, 45, from Great Cornard, was overpaid more than £18,000 in housing and council tax benefit as a result of her failing to tell the authorities that she was working, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Lynne Shirley, prosecuting, said Knight had also failed to mention she had capital in excess of the amount allowed and had a financial interest in a house.

Knight admitted three offences of dishonestly failing to notify a change in her circumstances and was given a 22-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months.

She was also placed under the supervision of the probation service for 12 months and ordered to attend a Women’s Emotional Wellbeing programme.

Sentencing her, Judge John Devaux said: “You kept information hidden from those who needed to know it so they could decide if you were entitled to benefits and what amount.”

Miss Shirley told the court that Knight had paid back £1,000 of the overpayment and was paying the rest back at £200 a month.

She said Knight’s claim for benefits was not fraudulent from the outset.

She said investigators had discovered from bank statements that “significant” credits of £21,000 and £11,000 had been paid into Knight’s account and that she had a £168,000 joint mortgage with her partner for a property jointly owned with him.

Archie McKay, for Knight, said his client had suffered from depression and had only been earning £12,000pa and was currently repaying £200 a month of the overpayment out of her £1,000-a-month salary.

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Light sentence for immigrant benefit cheat

May 18, 2015, 4:00 pm
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A mother of five who wrongly claimed more than £100,000 in benefit payments has been spared jail.

Despite only admitting her guilt halfway through her trial, the judge told Nazma Hoque (38) her guilty plea had been taken into consideration when handing out a suspended 12-month prison sentence. He didn’t order costs against her.

Hoque, of Sherwood Street, Oldham, had applied for Income Support, housing and council tax benefits in 2002 when she said her husband had deserted her.

Manchester Crown Court was told she had frequently been warned she was obliged to report changes in circumstances, but didn’t.

She had two more children by Shufiqul Hoque in 2003 and 2005, and they lived as man and wife in Sherwood Street, Oldham from at least 2007. One family member said she wasn’t even aware there had been a split.

An investigation was launched when Hoque contacted the the Department for Work and Pensions in 2012, reporting a reconciliation - four days after her sister-in-law had been arrested on suspicion of benefit fraud.

Judge Leslie Hull said: “That was an acknowledgement by you that you had dishonestly claimed benefits by not telling the relevant authorities your husband had returned to you.”

The inquiry revealed a paper trail of official letters and documents linking delivery driver and waiter Mr Hoque to the Sherwood Street house.

Nazma Hoque pleaded not guilty benefit fraud and failing to inform changes in her circumstances at her trial in March. The proceedings halted when, on the day her defence was due to begin, she admitted the two counts of failing to notify changes.

Hoque received £103,000 over a decade. Had she been honest she would have been eligible for around £59,000 - making her liable for almost £44,000.

Judge Hull told her if she hadn’t changed her pleas, and had been convicted, she would have been jailed.

Hoque, who came to Britain for an arranged marriage in 1994 and struggles to understand English, said she had dishonoured herself and her family.

Well, she managed to live with that for ten years.

Her children aged between nine and 19 are said to have been badly affected by her trial and publicity surrounding it.

She will be subject to a nightly curfew for four months and has been ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work. An application for £10,000 costs against her was adjourned indefinitely.

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Jail for £48k benefit cheat

May 19, 2015, 4:00 pm
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A woman who fraudulently claimed more than £48,000 in benefits she wan not entitled to has been jailed for 16 months. (h/t Dave)

Nadine Pirincci, from North Weald, admitted 12 offences - seven relating to making false statements, four of failing to notify of a change in circumstances and one of producing or furnishing a false document to dishonestly claim benefits - when she appeared in court earlier this month.

Chelmsford Crown Court was told Pirincci received a total of £48,176 from Epping Forest Council and the Department of Work and Pensions in housing benefit, council tax benefit, income support and jobseekers allowance.

But after carrying out some investigations, the council discovered that a property in Forest Gate which Pirincci said she was selling was taken off the market before she started claiming benefit and she let it out during the period of her claim.

As she said the property was for sale and provided documentation appearing to confirm that was the case,it was temporarily disregarded for benefit purposes as allowed for in the regulations. Later, when her claim was reviewed, she stated she no longer owned any property.

She owned more than £86,000 of equity in the property and investigators also discovered that during the period of her claim she received a divorce settlement of £67,000 which she concealed in her children's bank accounts.

She was also paid for work which she did not declare and received a number of cash payments which she could not explain. The court was also told that in total she held more than £80,000 in undeclared bank accounts.

Pirincci originally pleaded not guilty to the offences at Colchester Magistrates Court in August 2014 and the case was sent to the crown court for trial. However, she changed her plea to guilty on the first day.

Pirincci paid back the benefits she was not entitled to when her deceit was discovered and prosecution proceedings were commenced.

Speaking after the case, Councillor Syd Stavrou, finance portfolio holder at Epping Forest Council, said: "This is a blatant case of someone meaning to cheat the system. The defendant deliberately set out to deceive the council and the DWP from the beginning and continued to dishonestly claim benefits which she knew she was not entitled to, at the expense of the tax payer. I am pleased the judge took a strong stance and awarded a tough sentence. I hope it will act as a deterrent to others and makes it clear that benefit fraud cannot be tolerated."

Pirincci will serve half of the sentence in prison and the remainder on licence.

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Hyde Group secures its first Unlawful Profit Order

May 20, 2015, 4:00 pm
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Hyde Group is warning any tempted residents not to illegally sublet their homes after the housing association secured its first Unlawful Profit Order.

The unnamed tenant was ordered to pay a total of £17,662, including Hyde's £5k legal costs, and told to vacate the property within 14 days at a county court hearing in Croydon. The tenant had sub-let the whole property and consequently lost assured tenancy status.

The UPO was introduced through the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013.

Hyde housing director Carol Carter said:
A very small minority of tenants choose to flout the laws when it comes to sub-letting. While they may see this as a victimless crime they are taking up valuable accommodation that could and should be given to those who need it most. It’s for the integrity of The Hyde Group and not least in fairness to our thousands of law abiding tenants, and those waiting for a suitable property to become available, that this case was brought to court.
The Hyde Group worked in collaboration with the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s internal audit & tenancy fraud enforcement team.

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Civil servant in £110k 12 year benefit fraud

May 21, 2015, 4:00 pm
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A civil servant who claimed more than £110,000 in fraudulent benefits has been jailed.

Neil Smith, 38, from Penge, kept his job secret from Bromley Council and the Department for Work and Pensions and continued to claim benefits for 12 years.

But officials eventually spotted what was going on when they compared the Home Office payroll with benefit records.

Smith, of Penge Lane, was found to have fraudulently claimed £46,563 in housing benefit and £9,356 in council tax benefit from March 2002 to February 2014. He also fraudulently claimed £11,755 of Income Support.

He initially denied three charges of benefit fraud, but changed his plea to guilty ahead of his trial at Croydon Crown Court and was jailed for eight months.

Smith will also have to pay back all the money, as well as £42,599 he claimed for severe disablement allowance, although a charge relating to this claim was withdrawn.

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Hundreds of Bangladeshis flew into Britain for one day to claim benefit

May 26, 2015, 12:56 am
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A charity trustee has been charged with a fraud offence after a huge benefits racket probe involving hundreds of Bangladeshi migrants with European Union passports.

Asma Khanam, 46, of Newbury Park, east London, who is involved with relief organisation Families for Survival UK, was among 13 people arrested as part of the investigation.

The racket is said to involve fraudsters making one-day trips from Italy to attend interviews at Jobcentres for National Insurance numbers.

Families for Survival’s offices in Ilford, east London, were searched by investigators and documents and computers were seized.

The arrests follow an investigation by the Department for Work and Pensions and Redbridge Council into a scam which is thought to have cost taxpayers millions of pounds. It could be one of the largest organised benefits frauds ever uncovered in Britain.

Bangladesh-born migrants alleged to be involved in the racket have arrived in the UK over the past three years after getting EU citizenship in Italy. They are accused of making false housing benefit claims to local councils after obtaining national insurance numbers and moving into new homes. Bogus wage slips were allegedly produced to help with their applications.

Last year Essex Police reported a significant number of Bangladesh-born migrants with Italian passports arriving at London Stansted Airport from Italy. They were armed with appointment letters to attend interviews at job centres in London to obtain National Insurance numbers and had return flights tickets for the same day.

The DWP later identified up to 400 applications for National Insurance numbers had been received from the same address in Bow, east London. The address was one of a number visited during last Tuesday's police operation.

Families for Survival UK is alleged to be one of at least five organisations which provided fraudsters with fake employment details. Two directors of other companies, including a recruitment firm, were also arrested. A number of the companies are alleged not to be trading. Under Government rules, EU nationals are only allowed to claim housing benefit in Britain if they can prove they work here.

Redbridge Council, which has worked alongside the DWP and the Metropolitan Police’s financial investigation unit, is the first council whose probe into the fraud has led to arrests.

The authority’s housing benefits investigation team was first alerted to the alleged fraud last summer after a large number of benefit applications were received from Italian nationals of Bangladesh origin, all claiming they earned around £156 a week. According to the charity's annual report, it was last year chosen by Sainsbury’s as a support charity and declared income of £316,000 in grants and donations. Nobody from Families for Survival UK was available for comment.

Two of those arrested, Khanam and 35-year-old KM Habibur Rahman, a former director of a company called Crystal Job Limited, were charged with conspiracy to defraud. They appeared at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday. Both were released on conditional bail.

Eight other suspects arrested are alleged to have made fake housing benefit claims and have been charged with offences under Section 2 of the Fraud Act. They are due to appear in court this week. Other migrants alleged to be involved in the scam are expected to be questioned over the coming weeks.

Councillor Kam Rai, Redbridge Council’s cabinet member for finance and resources, said: ‘This fraud was detected late last year. Since then our own benefit fraud team has been painstakingly investigating to collect the evidence and this success is a direct result of their very hard work. When people commit fraud against the council, they steal from you, your friends, family and the community. Fraud takes money away from vital services and impacts on us all.’

A council spokesman said it expects thousands of pounds in housing benefit will be saved each week thanks to the investigation.
  • So many migrants used a small East London flat to milk housing benefits that they had to spill out onto the street, neighbours claim.

    The tiny apartment in Bow is above an Italian restaurant and was allegedly used by migrants over a three-year period.

    One worker at a courier service East End Logistics based next door described how the flat saw a huge turnover of different people coming and going over the years:
    We have been seeing quite a few people there in the last year or so - people walking in and out. Every day people were coming and going. The people couldn’t all fit in the flat so they would have to gather outside. At the time we thought they might have opened a job or recruitment centre there. It was mainly people of 20 years old and upwards to about 50, people from different backgrounds. One obstacle for us is all of the people gathering outside of our door and making it uncomfortable for our customers. We were always wondering what they were doing until we read the newspapers and saw the police come around.
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Benefit fraud up in Waltham Forest

May 27, 2015, 3:03 am
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Some of this is trying to make a story out of nothing, but it's interesting to see how it is presented in the local press. It's not yet clear how the more centralised anti-fraud service is performing.

Stark warnings on the clamp down on benefit fraud have fallen on deaf ears in Waltham Forest as the amount of cash being paid out to people trying to fiddle the system is soaring.

A Freedom of Information Act request shows that despite the advertisements and the warnings, spending on investigating benefit fraud at local level has been slashed.

As a result, in the last three years in Waltham Forest alone £3,776,000 has been paid out to people later being found to have claimed the money fraudulently.

In addition to this – the FOI also shows that only ten per cent of this sum has been recovered.

Spending on investigation has halved in five years from £420,000 to £200,000 and the team of officers dedicated to finding fraudsters has been cut from 11 to five.

The current salary of the team of officers dealing with cases ranges from £27,000 to £34,500.

In 2010/11 a recorded amount of £482,000 was paid out to people who were committing benefit fraud and in the last year this figure has shot up to £1,073,000.

There was also a spike in 2012/13 when the number of people caught showed £1,015,00 was paid out to fraudsters.

The number of people convicted for benefit fraud in the borough has also dramatically declined.

In 2010/11 26 people were caught and brought to justice, whereas last year, that number was 6.

A council spokesman said the figures must be contextualised against a change in responsibility.

In February 2015 the council stopped investigating benefit fraud and responsibility was transferred over from the Council to the DWP, as was the funding.

Before the move, according to the council, funding was reduced by central government and fraud services at the town hall ‘changed practices’. The teams were tasked with working on “higher value, more serious fraud cases” the council has claimed.

Councillor Clare Coghill, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and High Streets said:
The Government has taken on direct responsibility for tackling benefit fraud so it is no longer our area of responsibility. In addition, before our powers were taken on by Central Government, budgets were cut, also by Central Government, which of course has an impact on the numbers of people available to tackle the very real problem of benefit fraud.
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Eight Surrey councils join forces to tackle fraud

May 27, 2015, 4:00 pm
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Fraudsters cost local taxpayers millions therefore eight Surrey councils say they're teaming up to tackle the issue jointly. (h/t Dave)

The Surrey Counter Fraud Partnership is Government funded, and aims to save the council money at a time when budgets are under severe strain.

Each participating authority has hired specialist investigators to make it much harder for benefit and council tax cheats to slip through the net.

The investigators will also work closely with housing providers to tackle tenancy and Right To Buy fraud.

Corporate Director for Finance and Resources at Waverley Borough Council Graeme Clark says:
The scale of fraud against local authorities is difficult to quantify, but it is estimated it runs into millions of pounds a year. Such fraud and error not only reduces available monies and resource to support genuine residents, but also reduces the amount of money that can be spent on essential services at time of severe pressure on budgets.

I am pleased that through partnership working with other councils in the county, we are putting in place arrangements to identify and reduce this loss. Waverley already has an excellent track record in tackling fraud and has a prosecution rate of 100% for benefit fraud. The SCFP will enable us to tackle other areas targeted by fraudsters who feel it is acceptable to cheat local tax payers.
The money saved may be crucial at a time when the threat of public service cuts still hangs in the air.

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Fine for man who helped friend commit benefit fraud

May 29, 2015, 12:12 am
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A hefty fine [well, not that hefty] has been dished out to a man from Slough who helped a friend commit benefit fraud.

Amit Kumar Sharma was fined £1,500 at Reading Crown Court after admitting to three counts of making or supplying an article, knowing that it would be used to commit or in the commission of a fraud.

If he fails to pay in time, he will go to prison for one month. He was also ordered to pay £5,000 prosecution costs within a year.

The 49-year-old falsified three documents which showed that Shereen Hamid, 42, was employed as a cleaner at Stonham housing association in Hayes, where he worked as a rent officer.

Hamid later went on to become a Slough Borough Council tenant and began submitting false ‘proof of employment’ documents while claiming benefits.

“Mr Sharma worked in the public sector and was therefore in a position of trust, which he was clearly prepared to abuse in order to assist his friend’s criminal activities,” said Cllr Sohail Munawar, commissioner for social and economic inclusion. “This is something we simply won’t tolerate and I hope it sends a clear message to anyone involved in cheating the system that we will do all we can to track them down and get the money back for those genuinely in need.”

Hamid was sentenced at a separate hearing at Slough Magistrates’ Court on October 28.

She received 20 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and was told to pay back the full amount claimed illegally, which totalled £10,203.41 in housing benefit and £1,738 in council tax benefit. She was also ordered to pay £3,465 in costs.

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Wolverhampton loses £650k to benefit cheats in 12 months

May 31, 2015, 4:00 pm
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Benefits cheats have stolen more than £650,000 from the dwindling coffers of Wolverhampton City Council over the last year, according to a new report. (h/t Dave)

In the 12 months to the end of April, the authority initiated 187 investigations into fraud relating to benefits paid for housing tax, council tax and employment allowances - amounting to a loss of £651,300.

A total of 32 of the cases were prosecuted, recouping £222,000, while 28 claimants received a penalty and cautions were handed out in four cases.

But 123 of the cases failed to meet the authority's requirement for a sanction, resulting in a loss of £399,000.

The figures were compiled in a report by the Counter Fraud Unit, which investigates deception as part of the council's Audit Services.

The report states: "The council uses intelligence to identify dishonest benefit claimants and to actively pursue the recovery of fraudulently claimed payments and where appropriate penalise the perpetrator."

Finance chief Andrew Johnson said: "The cost of fraud to local government is estimated at a staggering £2.1bn a year - money which would better be used for providing local services. Wolverhampton City Council operates a zero tolerance policy on fraud and corruption; we won't hesitate to take action if we suspect fraud has been committed against the council – and, as a result, taxpayers – and we will make every effort to recover all monies stolen. This is demonstrated by the fact that, in 2014-15, we carried out 187 investigations into cases where claimants either provided inaccurate information in order to fraudulently claim benefits, or failed to inform the council that their circumstances, and therefore their entitlement to benefits, had changed. Wherever possible, we than take whatever steps are available to us to recover any overpayments."

A counter fraud App is currently being developed to make it easier for members of the public to report fraud. It is set to go live later this year.

As part of a nationwide shake-up the council's housing benefit fraud team will transfer over to the DWP’s Single Fraud Investigation Service next month.

Among those convicted in 2014/15 was 44-year-old Peter Harris, from Wednesfield, who swindled more than £17,000 by failing to tell authorities he had moved in with his partner.

One of the council's own benefits assessors, 56-year-old Anthony McHale, of Broad Lane North in Willenhall, defrauded £32,000 from Wolverhampton City Council. He set up and managed six false housing benefit payment accounts for fictitious people with fake national insurance numbers.

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Hale benefit cheat dishonestly claimed £24,000

June 4, 2015, 5:06 am
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A Hale benefit cheat falsely claimed more than £24,000 after failing to tell the council she was living in property owned by her father-in-law.

At Manchester Crown Court Saika Khalid of Old Meadow Lane, Hale, formerly of Hale Road, Altrincham, was convicted of dishonestly obtaining housing benefit from Trafford Council totalling £24,664.55.

Ms Khalid, 35, had declared that she was renting a room in a house on Hale Road, but she failed to declare that her landlord was her father-in-law and it was deemed that the tenancy was not commercial.

This resulted in an overpayment of benefit between September 2008 and May 2012.

Executive Councillor for Finance, Councillor Patrick Myers said “Once again Trafford Council's determination to clamp down on benefit fraudsters has led to another successful prosecution. This kind of illegal activity will not be tolerated and the Council will use the courts to bring those found to be benefiting from money to which they are not entitled to justice. People must realise that if they provide inaccurate information when they submit their claims, or fail to advise us of changes in their circumstances and subsequently receive money fraudulently, the consequences will be extremely serious for them.”

Khalid had entered a guilty plea at a previous hearing and was sentenced to 24 weeks in custody, suspended for one year and with a requirement to observe a four month curfew between 9pm to 6am with an electronic tag.

She also has to pay £450 towards the cost of the prosecution.

Trafford Council is also recovering all of the monies that were obtained as a result of the offence.

Council counter fraud officers were alerted to the matter as a result of an anonymous referral. Further investigation uncovered the truth about Khalid’s relationship to her landlord.

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Man claimed housing benefit while living with mother

June 5, 2015, 12:34 am
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A man has been sentenced to 24 weeks in prison for claiming housing benefit while living with his mother in Hassocks.

Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) said James Andrew Hall, 30, fraudulently claimed the benefit for a property at Ann Close four times between 2008 and 2013. Each time he claimed to be a lodger and said he was not related to his landlady.

In November 2013, an MSDC benefits officer noticed an inconsistency in his documents. The Council investigated and proved his landlady was his mother.

He was not entitled to any of the £9,772 in benefits he was paid from July 2008 to October 2011.

He pleaded guilty to four charges of making false representations on benefit claim forms and on June 1, was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison for each offence, concurrently, and is required to repay the benefits.

“Benefit fraud takes money away from the claimants who genuinely need our help and support,” said Councillor Ash-Edwards, MSDC Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Service Delivery.

“It’s a drain on honest, hardworking taxpayers and that’s why we have effective systems in place to catch the small minority who try to cheat the system. The length of sentence handed out by the Magistrates in this case should act as a clear warning to any potential cheats – committing benefit fraud is simply not worth the risk.”

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Jihadis using benefits to fund their fighting

June 8, 2015, 12:13 am
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ISIS terrorists are abusing the UK benefits system to fund their holy war in Iraq and Syria, authorities fear.

Hundreds of Brits are believed to have travelled abroad to fight with ISIS and many of them are still believed to be claiming taxpayer-funded benefits. Experts believe jihadists have committed a number of high-level frauds to deliberately abuse the welfare system.

A government probe has now been launched to establish the extent of the dodgy benefit claims.

While a number of countries do have benefits agreements with the UK that allow British citizens to continue claiming state hand-outs, Iraq and Syria are not among them. But the DWP Fraud and Error Service has launched a series of reviews after people living in Iraq and Syria successfully pocketed UK benefits.

The claims – which run to an unknown sum – are alleged to have been made within the last three years.

It is the first time that the Whitehall department has admitted British taxpayer money has been fraudulently claimed by people living in the area.

Detective Chief Superintendent Terri Nicholson, the assistant commander at the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command unit, is certain that ISIS is abusing the UK’s lucrative benefit system to help finance terror. ‘We are seeing a diverse fraud, including substantial fraud online, abuse of the benefits system, abuse of student loans, in order to fund terrorism,’ she said.

Nicholson added that women were being used to smuggle welfare money out of Britain to fund terrorists abroad, because they supposedly arouse less suspicion.

The DWP has not revealed the extent of the benefit fraud for fear that it might damage or deter its investigation.

A freedom of information request was sent in March in a bid to access all the information the government holds on the subject. In response to the FOI request, the government said: ‘We can confirm that investigations have been carried out into claimants/customers fraudulently claiming benefits whilst allegedly living in Syria or Iraq.’

Professor Anthony Glees, one of the UK’s most respected intelligence analysts, branded the revelation ‘outrageous’.

Professor Glees, who is head of the Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies at the University of Buckingham, said:
The fact that taxes gained via hard-working families across the UK are going to these sadistic killers is nauseating.
Other European countries have been forced to admit that they too have been stung in similar frauds.

In Denmark, it has been revealed that more than two dozen jihadists received unemployment benefits from the Danish government while fighting for Islamic State in Syria, totalling close to £500,000. Meanwhile, in Austria, police arrested 13 jihadists in November who were allegedly collecting welfare payments to pay for their trip to Syria.

A spokesperson for the DWP told MailOnline: ‘If police say that a person has left the country and they haven’t informed us then we will investigate. People have to inform us before they leave the country, otherwise we will investigate the matter. People who commit, plan and support acts of terror abroad and seek to return to the UK will be prosecuted.’
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Benefits thief had £170k in the bank

June 10, 2015, 2:09 am
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A benefits cheat from Padiham who obtained almost £19,000 while he had more than £170,000 in the bank, has been given a suspended jail term. (h/t Dave)

Burnley Crown Court heard how pensioner David Harry Hardacre, now 66, carried out the scam over almost four years with his claim fraudulent from the start. Hardacre was said to have claimed he had savings of just under £7,000 and kept quiet about how much cash he really had.

He claimed at an earlier hearing he had been employment since leaving school and he felt that the state had not supported him when he needed it. He had been signed off sick by a number of doctors, but the DWP had deemed him fit for work

Hardacre had admitted two counts of dishonestly failing to disclose information to make a gain – that he had savings in excess of the prescribed limits. One count involves council tax benefit from Burnley Borough Council, between November 30th, 2009 and March 31st, 2013 and the other is pension credit from the DWP, between November 30th, 2009 and September 22nd, 2013.

He had been committed for sentence to the crown court by Burnley magistrates. Recorder Mark Ainsworth, who said Hardacre had over 10 times the prescribed savings limit of £16,000, gave him four months in prison, suspended for a year. The defendant will now face a proceeds of crime hearing on October 2nd.

Natalia Cornwall (prosecuting) said Hardacre made a call to claim pension credit but then handed the phone over to his wife to give information on his behalf, although he was present at the time. He later signed a declaration form, confirming he had no assets other than £6,960, which had earlier been stated on the phone. But, it turned out he and his wife had savings of £170,000 in 15 bank accounts.

The defendant received an overpayment of £18,829. He was interviewed under caution and made full admissions.

Rachel Cleary (defending) had earlier told the lower court the proceedings had caused him significant stress. She told the hearing the defendant put in a claim for sickness benefit and had been signed off by a number of doctors.

He then had a medical assessment and the DWP deemed him fit for work. The solicitor continued: “He felt some sense of anguish. He was a hard-working individual. He had managed to save up a large amount through modest living and he felt when he needed it, the state wasn’t there to support him.”

Mrs Cleary had said what Hardacre had done was more “an act of omission” and when money was coming into to his bank account, he “simply buried his head in the sand”.

She had continued: “He is paying the money back. He has offered to pay it in one lump sum, but the DWP has insisted it is deducted from his state pension. He says he would rather pay it back. It’s added stress he can do without.”

Source

He should have to repay twice what he stole. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
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