Benefit fraud

A man fraudulently claimed an ‘eye-watering’ £100,000 in benefits over 12 years despite owning two homes.

Alan Littleboy cheated the Department of Work & Pensions after inheriting his father’s bungalow.

The unemployed 57-year-old made £101,089 by claiming income support, employment support allowance and council tax benefit.

He was supposed to declare any changes but each year sent in a form not mentioning the bungalow in Selsey, the court heard.

Majit Dogra, prosecuting, said: ‘Mr Littleboy claimed income support in 1998 and was granted income support. It later transferred to Employment Support Allowance and he claimed council tax benefit. In 2000, following the passing of his father, Mr Littleboy inherited his father’s property.’

Despite inheriting the property he failed to notify the DWP.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard Littleboy claimed £66,655 of income support for 500 weeks, £21,607 of ESA for 147 weeks and £12,827 of council tax benefit between 2002 and 2014.

The house had been under a different surname to his own, but that had been a mistake made by lawyers handling the inheritance, Ms Bridget O’Hagan defending, said. She added: ‘It’s clear to me that he doesn’t view the bungalow as a capital asset. It was uninhabitable when he inherited it and was for some time. To him it’s something like an emotional shrine.’

The DWP is set to chase Littleboy for the cash through Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings. He plans to move into his father’s former home and his current home is on the market with Pearsons estate agents.

Judge Claudia Ackner handed Littleboy a 20-month prison sentence suspended for two years with a three-month 6pm-6am curfew with electronic tag.

The judge added the benefits system existed to help  people in genuine financial hardship.

Addressing Littleboy judge Ackner said: ‘For you to divert a significant sum of money to top up your lifestyle is an abuse of that system.’ She added she accepted he had ‘limited understanding’ about the consequences of his actions.

Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council, said: ‘Clearly the overall sum involved is an eye-watering amount to anybody. That being fraudulently extracted from the taxpayer, I’m sure the taxpayer’s pleased to see justice being done. Taxpayers will rightly expect that everything should be paid back immediately with interest.’

Source

Dozy Wiltshire have stirred and decided to have a keys amnesty, reports the BBC.

People illegally subletting their council-provided homes are being offered the chance to hand in keys with "no questions asked".

The month-long amnesty comes ahead of Wiltshire Council's crackdown on tenancy fraud.

Gracious, whatever made them think of that?

A council spokesman said the cost of placing a family in temporary accommodation is £18,000 a year and the fraud stops genuine people in need (sic). Those found guilty of tenancy fraud can face up to two years in prison.

"They also risk an unlimited statutory fine and will have to pay back any profits they have made," the spokesman said:

Social housing tenants may be prosecuted for not occupying their home as their main residence and illegally subletting parts or the whole of their home.

Anyone who returns their keys at reception at the Wiltshire Council offices in Salisbury or Trowbridge before 10 February will not face legal action.

At present there are more than 17,500 social housing properties in Wiltshire, with 5,319 of those owned by Wiltshire Council.

Fugitive Tyneside tax cheat Bobby Webber faces being stripped of his luxury Tenerife bolthole after a landmark legal ruling.

Club singer Webber is on the run after failing to pay back a penny of the thousands he illegally pocketed in UK benefits while living on the Spanish island.

After he failed to comply with a Proceeds of Crime Act order, a warrant was issued for his arrest in 2011 but Webber has still not paid up and remains at large.

In the past his assets could have been safe abroad but new regulations mean UK authorities now have the power to get other European member states to enforce confiscation orders.

Now, after what prosecutors say is the first application of its kind, a judge has granted permission for the Spanish authorities to chase up 73-year-old Webber’s ill-gotten gains.

Judge Paul Sloan QC, at Newcastle Crown Court, said: “These provisions enable confiscations made by the UK to be enforced by other member states.”

Webber owns a luxury villa in the Amarilla Golf complex, on Tenerife, the proceeds of which would be more than enough to pay back the £75,000 he owes.

Judge Sloan said: “The available amount, which included the property in Spain, was sufficient to meet the benefit figure and a confiscation order was made in the sum of £75,000. It has not been satisfied and the defendant is at large and has not been traced.”

Prosecutor David Comb said the successful application was the first of its type since European regulations were brought into force in the UK in 2014.

Properties held in other European countries can be confiscated by the UK authorities with the help of other member states if they are the proceeds of an offence or were used in an offence.

Webber was made the subject of a confiscation order in November 2009 after staging a five-figure benefit fraud from his Spanish home. But more than six years after he was jailed for 51 weeks, he has failed to hand over a single penny of the confiscation order. A warrant for his arrest issued in August 2011 remains outstanding.

In an interview in 2014 from his Tenerife home, Webber claimed he had been forced to accept benefit fraud allegations to protect his family and said: “If I come back to England I’ll be locked-up.”

At the time he claimed his famous bar, the Penny Farthing in Tenerife’s Los Cristianos, which he has owned for 30 years, had been closed for four months as he struggled to make a living. Webber also said his luxury £410,000 three-bedroom villa in the upmarket Amarilla Golf complex was on the market but he had been unable to offload it. And he said his marriage had collapsed and he was desperate to return to Gateshead but was “stuck” in Spain.

Webber, previously of Barmston Court, Washington, said: “I can’t pay the money, I’m divorced and I’ve had nothing but problems. I’m sitting here with no cash. I’m stuck here, the house has been up for sale since I came back. You can’t sell anything here because no-one has any money. I’m in a Catch-22, I’m stuck. It’s caused me hell. I’ve got family in England but if I go over there I’m going to get locked-up. I’ve not paid the bill. The Penny Farthing is closed, it’s been closed for four months. I’ve got no money coming in. The whole thing has upset me, everything has upset me from start to finish. I don’t need this at my age.”

Webber said he served just three months of his 51-week jail term in Durham Prison before being electronically monitored on his release.

After he finished his sentence he fled to Spain. Clips posted on YouTube from 2013 show the former club singer entertaining crowds.

During the original hearing in 2009 he admitted four offences of failing to disclose information in relation to benefits and one offence of money laundering. The total value of the offences was £75,000.

Webber had claimed council tax benefit, housing benefits, income support and pension credit while he had a home in Tenerife. He admitted failing to notify a change of circumstances, deliberately hiding his Spanish property to get £69,000 in benefits. Following his conviction he was told he must pay back the money within six months or serve 21 months in default. But that ruling - in 2009 - has fallen on deaf ears and he has failed to pay back the cash.

Source

About £700,000 has been clawed back by Telford & Wrekin Council by cracking down on people who have been fraudulently claiming benefits. (h/t Dave)

The council checked the circumstances of thousands of benefits claimants across the borough and realised hundreds of people were being paid too much. They blame the problem on claimants failing to report a change in circumstances that would reduce benefit payments.

Now people claiming too much benefit have been warned that they will be caught and forced to repay the money they owe.

Since December 2013, more than 7,600 claimants have been reviewed in Telford, saving the £700,000, and officers are continuing to check claimants at a rate of 600 per month. Shropshire Council is also carrying out a similar review, although it was unable to provide figures. Staff from the Benefits Service say every claimant will eventually be reviewed to ensure that no-one is cheating the system.

Richard Atkins, of Telford & Wrekin Council, said:

If we are paying out too much benefit for too long then it is our taxpayers that take the financial hit. We have a responsibility to look after every penny.

£150,000 has been saved over two years in council tax support alone. New rules will soon cap council tax benefit to £20,000, which Telford & Wrekin Council says will save it at least a further £241,000 in payments.

In September, the council launched a scheme that encouraged residents to report anyone they suspect of claiming benefits they were not entitled to. Fraud reporting tools were added to the council’s Everyday Telford app in an attempt to get more people to come forward and potential fraudsters.

And in March 2014, the council also held an amnesty for people to come forward about any council tax benefits or discounts they have been mistakenly claiming.

Telford & Wrekin Council said it must make £35 million of cuts from its budget over the next three years, after already cutting its budget by £70 million since 2010. That means that by 2019 total cuts will amount to more than £100 million.

Source

A benefit cheat who illegally claimed benefits from Babergh District Council has been ordered by a judge to hand over more than £35,000.

Kaj Jensen, 75, of Whatfield Hall, Whatfield, near Hadleigh, had received the money in housing-related benefits since 2007.

Jensen had claimed he was unaware of having done anything wrong but in November was found guilty of fraud by a jury at Ipswich Crown Court and received a 10 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months.

He has now returned to the same court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing designed to recoup as much as possible of what he gained from his offending.

The court heard that specialist financial investigators had established Jensen’s benefit from the fraud was £35,217 and that he had in excess of £112,000 available in assets.

Jensen disputed the figures and asked Judge Martyn Levett to reduce the amount payable.

After hearing submissions from Jensen and the Crown Prosecution Service, Judge Levett ruled that Jensen should hand over the full £35,217 by April 12.

Failure to comply with that deadline would result in 12 months being added to Jensen’s sentence, warned the judge.

During Jensen’s trial the jury had been told that while claiming housing and council tax benefit and failing to notify the council of a change in his circumstances, Jensen had travelled extensively including to China, Africa and the Far East over a four year period.

Prosecutor Lynne Shirley said Jensen shopped at upmarket stores, spent thousands in hotels, restaurants and garden centres and one year ran up a £999 phone bill.

During the trial the court heard that Jensen had failed to disclose when claiming benefits that he was a director of a number of companies, had a private pension and that his wife received a Danish pension. Two bank accounts were also not disclosed.

Jensen, who represented himself during the trial, said while giving evidence that he had found it difficult to understand the amount of benefit he was being paid and had felt unable to question it.

Was that the best he could come up with?

He claimed the foreign travel referred to by the prosecution had included trips paid for by his children, one to assist police in Ghana after he became the victim of a fraud and others to Denmark with the aim of setting up a business.

Source

Over the past five years, [Perkins] has accumulated a mass of evidence about the personalities of welfare claimants and concluded that individuals with aggressive, rule-breaking and anti-social tendencies — what he calls the ‘employment–resistant personality profile’ — are over-represented among benefit recipients. He also found that their children are likely to share those traits, which helps explain why poverty has a tendency to be passed down from one generation to the next.

Note that Toby Young doesn't go into anything as vulgar as numbers.

A cheating couple fiddled more than £120,000 in benefits to fund a lavish lifestyle – including a luxury holiday to Las Vegas.

Phillip Jones, 41, was jailed for using a series of bogus names to abuse the benefits system with girlfriend Sharon James, 38.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard how Jones bought properties and splashed out on holidays including a trip to Las Vegas to watch a boxing match – paid for by him fiddling benefits for housing, council tax and disability.

Jones bought the houses and then claimed for benefits using fake names and details at those addresses.

Prosecutor Lee Reynolds told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court that that the scam was a “myriad false claims and fictitious documents”. He said: “They engaged in a determined, sophisticated and lucrative series of benefit fraud over a significant period of time.”

Jones, of Merthyr Tydfil, admitted seven counts of benefit fraud and one of conspiracy to defraud amounting to £91,731.50 and was jailed for two years.

The court was told how Jones witnessed tenancy agreements in false names to secure benefit after benefit for year after year.

He made claims for incapacity benefit and housing and council tax benefits under an alias, pretending he was a factory worker who was unable to work.

Jones changed his name to Paul Jones and submitted further benefit claims at a property he owned at Church Street, Troedyrhiw, and later at Pant Cad Ifor cottages, another property he had owned.

He bought another property for £105,000 under the name of Paul Price at Dan y Parc View, Merthyr Tydfil, claiming he was a self employed builder earning £35,000 a year. He was able to put down a £25,000 deposit from savings and two years later in 2006 paid off the £78,000 mortgage in full whilst claiming benefits at another of his addresses under a different name.

By 2008 James and Jones were in a relationship and Mr Reynolds said: “It is accepted that she was recruited into an already accomplished benefit fraud.”

Jones then bought another property at Cardiff Road, Merthyr Tydfil, for cash in the sum of £28,500 and submitted a benefits claim the same day using false documents.

In 2011, authorities carried out surveillance on Jones and mother-of-two James, both of Dan y Parc View, and when their home was raided evidence of their lavish lifestyle emerged.

Judge Daniel Williams said: “This was brazen dishonesty born out of greed rather than need. It funded a lifestyle which others who honestly work and work hard could only dream of. Year after year after year you helped yourselves to public funds expecting tax payers to fund your holidays and property acquisitions.”

James, also of Merthyr Tydfil, admitted conspiracy to defraud £30,515.67 and was handed a six-month suspended sentence.

The judge told her: “You were contemptuous of the benefit system and those who work hard to contribute to funds. The two of you showed a breathtaking dishonesty in your dealings with the benefit system. For year after year you raided scarce public funds.”

Andrew Davies, defending Jones, who had made no attempt to pay back any money, said that he had turned to drink following a difficult upbringing but had showed remorse.

Jeffrey Jones, defending James, who had repaid £322, said: “She has lost a lot of the esteem and character that she had enjoyed. She was not the brains behind this.”

The couple will face a Proceeds of Crime hearing to determine how much of the money will be paid back.

Source

A doctor who dishonestly claimed benefits because she was in pain when she walked just one step took part in a six-mile Army march and was photographed being winched out of a RAF helicopter.

Sandra Turnbull received disability benefit despite the fact she was volunteering as an Army medic and being passed fit for combat duties.

A court heard that as well as trying to do a six-mile hike while carrying a 15 kilo rugsack and rifle, the 44-year-old also had a history of scuba diving and cycling.

But despite her physical feats, Turnbull, who did have a genuine problem with her hip, claimed Disability Living Allowance for more than a decade, which she was paid in cash or towards a motability car.

Now the doctor, who admitted three benefit fraud charges with an overpayment of £22,279, has been given a community order at Newcastle Crown Court.

Sentencing her, Recorder Richard Wright QC said: “The reality is, you have said you were unable to walk for any time or distance, whereas you were flying about in helicopters with the RAF, passed for being fit for combat duties and in the Territorial Army. These are not offences of oversight or mistake, but plain old-fashioned dishonesty. You are an educated and intelligent woman who has got secure and well-paid employment.”

Recorder Wright accepted Turnbull’s pain levels from her hip fluctuated, that she was a carer and was of good character, but he told her: “You stole money that should have been spent on people who really needed it.”

He added: “If everything I have read about you is right, you have been and continue to be an excellent doctor, an excellent carer and someone who has discharged their responsibilities in their professional life to the highest standard and is very well-regarded. I hope you are judged by other tribunals on those things and not just on this event, which I am sure will be an isolated blip in an otherwise good life dedicated to helping other people.”

The court heard the doctor, who had a hip replacement last year, joined an Army Reserve unit, the 201 Northern Field Hospital, in June 2006, despite claiming DLA. She had claimed to be unable to walk without experiencing severe discomfort and continued making the declarations in renewal forms in 2008, 2010 and 2013.

Following her enrolment with the field hospital, she went on a three-day placement with the RAF and was taken aboard a Sea King helicopter as a “trainee casualty” which involved being winched on and off, prosecutor Vince Ward told the court. She was assessed to be employable in full combat duties in any area of the world, the court was told.

In January 2007 Turnbull went on a full day’s training exercise in the wilds of the Coquet Valley in Northumberland, to prepare for a combat test the following weekend involving a two-hour six-mile march with rifle and 15kg rucksack, which she failed.

Mr Ward said she was a qualified doctor who had worked at Newcastle General Hospital, for County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust and at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

She worked 40 hours a week on 12-hour shifts, standing for long periods and walking “considerable distances” around the hospitals, he said.

Department for Work and Pensions investigators carried out surveillance and she was observed walking at a normal pace, and did not appear to be in pain.

Her ex-husband provided a statement saying she was active and “unimpeded by symptoms”, Mr Ward said. The ex-partner, who was with her from 2005 to 2013, described a holiday where she went scuba diving, how they explored Rome on foot and went cycling as a family.

Richard Herrmann, defending, said Turnbull had suffered “significant health problems” due to her hip. But he said she had not disclosed the “full picture” to the DWP.

He added: “Effectively, by this course of conduct, this defendant is going to lose everything she has worked for for 15 years. She is suspended, she will be put before the General Medical Council and one can fairly readily anticipate the outcome from a conviction like this, although it is not certain.”

Source

Illegally sublet social rented properties have been seized after two cases of tenancy fraud in London’s East End were taken to court.

The seizures by Poplar Harca social landlords on two housing estates were revealed on the eve of Tower Hamlets council declaring a “housing amnesty” for any tenants illegally subletting.

Don't rush now.

Tower Hamlets has London’s longest housing waiting list, with almost 20,000 families in the queue for a home.

One property being sublet on Poplar’s Leopold Estate was brought to light by a tip-off from a neighbour which led to a possession order granted by Bow County Court. A second property which had been left empty with an absent tenant for three years was recovered from nearby Lansbury North Estate.

Don't rush now.

Eight properties have now been seized by Poplar Harca since April and five fraudulent Right to Buy claims have been stopped.

“We operate a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to housing fraud,” Poplar Harca’s counter-fraud investigator Avril Drummond said. “Every repossession means another family on the waiting list can be housed.”

Tower Hamlets Council, meanwhile, launched its amnesty with its own housing organisation and other local housing associations, hoping to recover illegally sublet properties and stamp out fraud estimated at £13 million a year.

A two-bedroom property the council has already retrieved in Bethnal Green has been given to a young mum on the waiting list, Amy Sictorness, 22, who has made 200 applications for a home since 2012. She now has a home for her five-month-old baby Lucia.

Amy said: “It’s shocking that people use social housing to make money. It means people like me wait longer than we should for a home.”

The local authority has pledged to “honour the amnesty”—but also warned it would use its powers to stamp out tenancy fraud.

Mayor John Biggs said: “It is wrong for people to make a ‘quick buck’ at the expense of those who desperately need a home. Our priority is to get illegally sublet social housing back, for the people on our housing list and to protect the public purse.”

The amnesty runs until March 6 for those illegally subletting to hand back the keys to the council or housing association without consequence.

Tenancy fraud is a criminal offence, the council warns, with prosecution that can lead to £5,000 fines or even a prison sentence.

Source

A Birmingham benefits cheat hit with a mammoth £277,000 bill has failed to get a discount after losing a court challenge. (h/t Dave)

Kulvinder Singh, 55, from Handsworth, raked in more than £32,000 in jobseekers payments between 2001 and 2008 – despite secretly having almost a quarter of million pounds in the bank.

The fraudster’s covert cash came to light in September 2009 when his finances were investigated as part of a case at Birmingham Crown Court.

Singh pleaded guilty to three counts of dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances, and was handed a suspended sentence.

But now he has lost a challenge at London’s Criminal Appeal Court to appeal against a confiscation order for £277,000, handed to him in 2010.

At the hearing he asked Mr Justice Foskett and Judge Jeremy Carey to reduce his crushing bill.

Investigations into his finances revealed another £241,000 – on top of the dishonestly claimed benefits – which a judge ruled he could not account for honestly. He had put in no tax returns to explain the £241,000 and the crown court judge had deemed it the proceeds of “criminal conduct”.

His lawyers argued that after paying back every penny of the £32,000, the confiscation order of more than seven times the amount was ‘simply wrong’.

They added that at least £140,000 of the money came from the legitimate sale of a £280,000 house.

It was also argued that Singh had lost the money from the house sale after falling victim to an “identity fraud”.

But Judge Carey ruled that Singh had left it too late to challenge the bill.

“There is no reason why time should be extended,” he said. “The application is refused.”

Singh has already served a term of imprisonment in default of payment of the confiscation order – but could face more time behind bars if he still fails to pay up.

Source

A man who falsely claimed to be an unemployed single parent has been jailed for tax and benefit fraud worth more than £72,000.

Andrew Cooper, 48, from Beddau was working as a self-employed signage erector and living with his partner, who was also in full-time work.

Between April 2008 and April 2013 Cooper failed to pay income tax and National Insurance contributions on his earnings.

On eight occasions, between January 2012 and April 2013, he deliberately charged customers more money by raising invoices and charging VAT while pocketing the cash himself.

Cooper earned £126,026.29 during this time and the total value of his tax fraud came to £29,387.10.

A joint investigation carried out by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) found Cooper had fraudulently claimed income support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and council tax benefits totaling £43,369.14 over a period of 12 years.

The combined amount came to a total of £72,756.24 and he pleaded guilty to tax and benefit fraud.

Donna Scrivens, DWP fraud manager for south west Wales, said: “While Cooper claimed he was only helping a friend and living alone our investigations uncovered that he was in fact working as well as living with his partner who was also in full-time work. This prosecution is an excellent example of cross-government working resulting in an overpayment of £72,000 being identified which will now need to be repaid by Cooper. He has also received a 15-month sentence as well as a criminal record.”

Colin Spinks, assistant director of the fraud investigation service at HMRC, added: “Cooper exploited both the benefits and the tax system over a long period of time which is not fair to the majority of hard-working tax payers and those who are legitimately deserving of benefits. This prosecution sends a strong message that, along with our partners in DWP, we will bring those who steal from the UK economy and the British taxpayer to justice.”

Cooper admitted failing to pay more than £29,000 in income tax, VAT and National Insurance contributions as well as fraudulently claiming more than £43,000 in benefits when he appeared before Pontypridd Magistrates’ Court.

On Tuesday he appeared at Cardiff Crown Court and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Confiscation proceedings to recover the proceeds of his crime will follow.

Source

A Scunthorpe woman who fraudulently claimed more than £38,000 in benefits over a six-year period has been spared jail by the "skin of her teeth", a court heard.

Anna Brindley dishonestly claimed £38,446.01 in jobseeker's allowance, council tax and housing benefit between 2007 and 2012, barring a six-month spell in the Middle East.

The 36-year-old also failed to declare that her partner, who was in full-time work and owned their property, was living with her and was also the father of one of her children.

Defence barrister Pam Coxon said the defendant had been in receipt of housing benefit from 2000, but the fraudulent claims did not begin until 2007. "To some extent she buried her head, which seems to be a theme in this exercise," she said. "But this is a woman who feels ashamed to be in this position and will never trouble the courts again."

She has already paid back more than £29,000, but still has around £8,000 outstanding.

She pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity and has no previous convictions.

Her first opportunity was to own up rather than wait to be caught.

Presiding over the case at Grimsby Crown Court, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC described her actions as "prolonged dishonesty". "It doesn't really matter what the lie is, a lie is a lie," he said. "She has told a pack of lies, full stop. This is not a massive mistake, this is flagrant dishonesty."

The judge opted not to jail the mother-of-two.

He said: "You deserve to go to prison. It is shameful that you stand here when you have two children. It is very tempting to send you to jail and I am equally mindful to give you a taste of just how awful a women's prison is. But purely as an act of mercy, and because your children will disproportionately suffer if you were to be jailed, I am prepared to suspend your sentence."

Brindley was sentenced to 12 months suspended for two years. She will also be required to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months.

"I am confident you will not reappear," the judge added. "But you are very lucky, very lucky indeed. You have escaped by the skin of your teeth."

Source

An engineering manager from Borough Green has admitted cheating the taxpayer out of more than £100,000 in benefits.

David Rothwell, 66, pleaded guilty to seven counts of benefit fraud totalling £109,152.53 at Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Rothwell claimed Jobseeker's Allowance from December 2002 until April 2009 but failed to tell the Department for Work and Pensions when he found employment at Imperial College in London from January 2004 until March 2007 and then at John Laing Integrated Services from August 2008 until the present day.

He also admitted carrying out housing and council tax benefit fraud against Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council for more than 11 years, from January 2004 until May 2015, when his offences came to light.

Rothwell, an engineering compliance manager and maintenance coordinator for John Laing Integrated Services, claimed all the illegal benefits on the grounds he was unemployed.

Lead magistrate Beverley Charman passed jurisdiction on sentencing to the crown court as she said her powers were not sufficient.

Rothwell will next appear at Maidstone Crown Court for a pre-sentencing hearing on Monday, February 29.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of falsely claiming Job Seeker's Allowance and four counts of falsely claiming housing and council tax.

He also pleaded guilty to a final charge of falsely claiming pension credit from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Source

The frauds ran for years.

A benefit cheat who fraudulently claimed £21,000 fraud has avoided jail.

For seven years Rebecca Hehir, 34, failed to tell Cheshire East Council and the Department for Work and Pensions that her partner was living with her when she claimed for a reduction in council tax and housing benefit.

The fraud lasted from May 18, 2007 to February 2, 2014, and came to more than £21,000.

Hehir, from Macclesfield, admitted two charges of fraud by false representation at Macclesfield magistrates’ court.

She was sentenced to prison for 16 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and was ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work.

Hehir will have to pay back the full overpayment and was also told she must also pay prosecution costs of £1,025.

Source

A pensioner who illegally claimed £68,000 in benefits while his wife is alleged to have “hundreds of thousands of pounds” in the bank has been told to ask her for help or be locked up. (h/t Dave)

Chung Fong, 75, who has been in the UK for 45 years, appeared before a judge at Cardiff Crown Court on Wednesday saying he did not have a solicitor – because they had demanded a £5,000 payment and he couldn’t afford it.

He also told the court he did not understand a word of English and appeared with a Cantonese interpreter at his side.

He was facing a sentence of up to three years having pleaded guilty in January, through an interpreter, to two charges of benefit fraud and having been urged by Recorder of Cardiff Judge Eleri Rees to seek legal advice before the next hearing.

He had also been told the same thing when before a different judge last December, said prosecutor Ruth Smith, who also told the court this week: “His wife is believed to have hundreds of thousands in her bank account.”

Ms Smith said if that was the case he would not have been entitled to claim benefits.

But when Fong, from Newport, turned up unrepresented for a third time he told Recorder Peter Griffiths QC he had been to see solicitors but they wanted £5,000 and he couldn’t afford it. “I was told because my wife had money I wasn’t allowed legal aid,” he said.

The court was advised that anyone with joint assets of more than £37,000 would not be entitled to free legal help.

Fong’s court-funded interpreter translated that he did not fully understand what was going on and was maintaining he could not afford legal advice.

He’d also had “a pile” of legal papers sent to him, outlining the case, before he pleaded guilty – but he hadn’t understood those either.

Fong was bailed again but this time told there would be a condition on his bail that he sees a solicitor within seven days and takes all the legal papers as well as his family bank statements, and preferably his wife, with him.

When it was pointed out that there would not be an interpreter at the solicitor’s office and no one would agree to fund one if legal aid was not in place the judge asked Fong if, after 45, years he had made any friends who speak English. “No”, he replied, in Cantonese.

Recorder Griffiths said he could not order Fong’s wife to go to a solicitor with him or tell her to pay for legal assistance but added: “I am told he has a good relationship with her and the court hopes he will be able to persuade her to accompany him. He should be legally represented either by having legal aid granted or asking his wife if she is, at least, prepared to fund representation at the next hearing.”

He told Fong: “The patience of the court is not unlimited.

“Tell him if he breaches the bail conditions he can be remanded to prison.”

Source

A benefits cheat who stole almost £50,000 in a six-year fraud has been ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work. (h/t Dave)

David Eagle, 49, fraudulently claimed housing and council tax benefits worth £26,019.90 between January 26, 2009, and March 22 last year.

He also fraudulently claimed £21,629.43 in Jobseeker's Allowance between January 24, 2009, and March 18 last year, pocketing a total of £47,649.33 from his crimes.

Eagle failed to tell the authorities he was living with his wife.

Although they had briefly separated when he was making his applications, she was in full-time work and helped him complete the forms, Hull Crown Court heard.

The benefits, which once totalled £8,000 a year, were paid into their joint bank account, from which private health plans, vehicle insurance, and other payments were made.

Eagle knew he was breaking the law, but never reported the change in his circumstances because he "got used to the money".

Victoria Hajba, prosecuting, said: "The defendant did admit in interview that he should have disclosed a change of circumstances. "He accepted he had many opportunities and he was fully aware he was claiming benefits he was not entitled to, and he accepted from the outset he was dishonest. Throughout the period, he had the intention of notifying the relevant authorities, but he never got round to doing so as he got used to the money."

Eagle was not funding a luxury lifestyle, but using the money to keep "afloat" as the couple had debts and were both supporting children from previous marriages, the court heard.

Hang on, they had private health plans.

Paul Norton, defending, said: "The couple did have significant debts and the money fraudulently obtained was used very much to service those debts and to keep themselves afloat. Both Mr Eagle and his wife, and indeed other members of his family present in court, do feel very keenly the disgrace of a conviction for an offence of dishonesty. For most of his life he did work and his wife remains a hard-working taxpayer."

Eagle, from Withernsea, admitted two counts of fraudulently obtaining benefits.

He had made an "arrangement" to pay the money back at £100 a month, and had so far returned £400.

"That's going to take time," said Judge Paul Watson QC. "It's going to take a long time, yes," said Miss Hajba.

Sentencing Eagle, the judge told him: "I know you and your wife had considerable financial debts. You had incurred a substantial number of debts and took out loans to pay off debts, and we know what a vicious circle and downward spiral that creates. A seriously aggravating feature of this case is that the fraud went on for so many years. I am satisfied this is not a case in which you claimed amounts of money that led to you living a life of luxury. You and your wife were getting by."

Eagle let out a sigh of relief when the judge said he would not have to serve an immediate sentence of imprisonment. He was sentenced to 14 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, and must do 200 hours of unpaid work.

"I'm quite satisfied you won't appear before the crown court again," the judge told him.

Source

Compare the sentence in tomorrow's post.

A woman who claimed she was single and claimed £32,000 worth of benefits despite being married has been jailed. (h/t Dave)

Margaret Grieve was caught out when investigators saw her being congratulated on her wedding anniversary on Facebook.

Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Grieve, who works for NHS Tayside at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital, had claimed to be a single mum who had separated from her husband. But she was still living with him, sharing the cost of groceries and childcare.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) investigators found Grieve’s Facebook page had a profile picture of the couple at a ball in 2011.

Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson told the court both Grieve and her husband had claimed to have separated in 2002 when confronted as part of the probe.

She said: “As a result of intelligence received by DWP an investigation into the accused and her lifestyle commenced. Frederick Grieve’s car insurance was paid from the accused’s bank account and the address linked to that account was the accused’s. Some household bills, including the council tax on the accused’s home, were paid from that account. Both were jointly liable for council tax there and no single person’s discount was applied. On her Facebook page, set up in 2010, she stated she had been married to him since 1990 and her profile picture featured them together. In 2011 a friend wished the accused a happy wedding anniversary and the accused replied with her thanks.

“Due to her actions she obtained £32,000 to which she was not entitled.”

Grieve, 53, from Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge under the Tax Credits Act committed between 2008 and 2011 at her home address.

Defence solicitor David Sinclair said: “If she receives a custodial sentence she will lose her job. She could pay back the money at £120 a month. The benefit to society in general would outweigh a punitive sentence. There would be a cost to the NHS to train someone for her job if she is given custody and the chance of regaining the sums taken would be lost. However, she is ready for what may be visited on her.”

It's a bizarre argument that NHS employees should be treated more leniently than the rest of the population.

Sheriff Tom Hughes jailed Grieve for nine months, reduced from 12 for her early guilty plea.

He said: “The difficulty that you face is that this was not a one-off incident. It was a course of action over a number of years and a considerable amount of money was involved.

“Unfortunately custody is inevitable due to the nature of the offence and the values involved.”

Source

Contrast this sentence with yesterday's post.

A pensioner fraudster who cheated the taxpayer out of more than £28,000 has been spared a trip to jail because he is 73.

Henry Hansen's initial claim for state benefits had been honest when he started it in 2004, Rachael Landin told York Crown Court in prosecution. But he failed to tell benefit officers about his wife starting work in 2005 and from then on for nine years, he claimed and received benefits under false pretences.

As a result, he received £28,743 he was not entitled to before the Department of Work and Pensions realised what was happening and prosecuted him.

Hansen, from Swinton near Malton, pleaded guilty to two charges of benefit fraud involving pension credits, housing benefit and council tax benefit. Scarborough magistrates sent him to York Crown Court as they considered their powers of sentence to be insufficient.

The Recorder of York, Judge Paul Batty QC, gave him a 12-month prison sentence, but suspended it for two years because of Hansen's age.

He said: "You are now of an age where really you are far too old to be doing this sort of thing. You are well into your seventies, and here you are admitting fraudulent obtaining of benefits."

Hansen's solicitor advocate Kristian Cavanagh did not give any mitigation after the judge indicated that he would suspend the prison sentence.

The court heard the benefit agency will reclaim the money and that Hansen's wife had worked at Malton Hospital.

Miss Landin told the court that Hansen had claimed to benefit officers that two treasurers at his wife's place of work had told him he did not need to declare her work to the agency and that he had telephoned the agency about the issue. But the prosecution had evidence that contradicted both claims.

Source

***
***
*** RSSing Note: Article removed by member request. ***
***

A benefit cheat who stole £96,000 by claiming to be single was caught out when her ex-husband’s uniform was found hanging in her wardrobe.

Bernadette Green, 59, legitimately received housing and council tax benefits, plus income and employment support, after splitting up with Albert Green in 1990.

The couple divorced in 1999, but eight years later the Stagecoach worker moved back into his former wife’s home in Kirkby.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how the grandmother-of-six then received £95,668 between January 2007 and June 2014, which she was not entitled to.

Kevin Slack, prosecuting, said the mum-of-three’s original claim was made on the basis that she was single and had no other means of financial support.

Investigations and surveillance was undertaken by the Benefits Agency after the pair made passport applications using the same address in January 2007.

Mr Green obtained CRB checks in 2008 and 2012 and on both occasions stated that he was living at the home. Between 2010 and 2012 he made a series of loan applications using the same address and his bank statements were also delivered to the property. The pair made a joint application for travel insurance ahead of a holiday to Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands in 2013.

His car was parked outside her house on 96 out of 123 occasions when the property was watched from 2013 to 2014.

This is ridiculous overkill. It looks like easy, lazy jobsworthing.

Mr Slack said: “When her house was searched on July 1, 2014, his Stagecoach uniform was hanging up in the wardrobe in the main bedroom.” He said a photograph of the couple “arm-in-arm” was also spotted.

Green, who made no comment during interviews, admitted four counts of benefit fraud. She has no previous convictions.

Charlotte Pringle, defending, said her client did not enjoy a lavish lifestyle and was extremely remorseful. She said Green suffered from asthma, back problems and mental health issues. Ms Pringle said the couple originally split up because of domestic violence, but got back together when Green’s health deteriorated as she needed more support, even though it was not “the most loving relationship”. She said the couple had started to make repayments, but accepted the debt to taxpayers would never be fully repaid.

Recorder Abigail Hudson said she was sympathetic to Green’s health problems, which would make prison difficult for her. However, the judge said the evidence was “absolutely overwhelming” and handed her 15 months behind bars.

Recorder Hudson said: “I cannot overlook the vast quantities of public money involved, with no prospect of it ever being fully returned.”

Female supporters in the public gallery wept as Green was led down to the cells.

No doubt.

Source

Light sentence for £100k benefit fraudster

Dozy Wiltshire: let's have keys amnesty

Judge orders Spain to enforce benefit fraud debt

Telford & Wrekin publicises its anti-fraud drive

Benefit fraudster ordered to hand over £35k

Personality and welfare dependency?

No redeeming features

Active doctor lied about disability

Now Tower Hamlets announces keys amnesty

Benefit cheat told to pay £277k

Jail for a wrong un eventually detected

£38k benefit thief avoids jail

Manager admits £100k benefit frauds

Easy to get away with

So Mr Fong knows no one who can translate for him?

Slap on the wrist for £47k benefits thief

£32k benefits thief jailed

73-year old benefit thief spared prison

--- Article Removed ---

Ridiculous benefit fraud investigation overkill