Benefit fraud

Tenancy fraudsters in Hoddesdon have the chance to give up their keys without fear of prosecution as part of a crackdown on illegal sub-letting. (h/t Tenancy Fraud)

Hoddesdon housing association, B3Living, will work with Hertfordshire Shared Anti-Fraud Service to tackle tenancy fraud within its 4,600 homes.

It is estimated between two and seven per cent of housing association homes are occupied by someone who should not be living there.

The key amnesty will last throughout March and gives anyone illegally sub-letting or not occupying their property the chance to hand back keys to the main reception at B3Living's offices in Hoddesdon.

Deborah Fenton, head of housing at B3Living, said: "We are encouraging other residents and members of the public to report fraud so that we can investigate it – you will be helping families who are affected by the housing crisis and are in desperate need of a home."

There are 237 families living in temporary accommodation in Broxbourne and B3Living has underlined the importance of tackling fraud.

Tenancy fraud covers key selling – where a resident receives a one-off payment to hand over their keys – to subletting, where a tenant lets the whole or part of the property without the consent of the homeowner for financial gain. It also covers application fraud where a tenant provides false or misleading information on their housing application.

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A pensioner who claimed £73,000 of benefits he was not entitled to has been locked up for more than a year.

George Young, 68, claimed the cash while working for a painting and decorating firm.

He appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court for sentencing after previously admitting fraudulently obtaining the cash – totalling £73,090.05 – between April 2008 and April 2014.

Young falsely claimed £52,359.14 in pension credit as well as £16,212.84 in housing benefit and £4,518.07 in council tax benefit.

Fiscal Depute Alan Townsend previously told the court Young had at first applied for benefits while he was working for Aberdeenshire Decorating Services. He said the pensioner had started off working at the firm for free, so didn’t need to declare that to the authorities. But Young then started to be paid, a fact he failed to reveal.

During his sentencing hearing, defence agent John Hardie said his client had considered that what he was doing was providing a consultancy doing things such as administrative tasks, that only someone skilled in the trade could.

He added: “He did not feel what he was doing was unlawful until it was pointed out to him, on that realisation he tendered pleas.”

Mr Hardie also said that so far his client had repaid £9,855. He said: “He will be repaying until his dying day.” He also highlighted that Young suffered from some chronic medical conditions.

On jailing Young for 61 weeks, Sheriff Graeme Napier said:

This amounts to two frauds on the public purse, firstly in respect on pension credit, secondly for housing and council tax benefit. The appeal court in Scotland in 2010 made it clear that those convicted of benefit fraud on the scale you have been should expect to receive a custodial sentence.

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Over the course of four years, a Maesteg man dishonestly obtained benefits of more than £12,800, it was stated at Cardiff Crown Court.

But throughout that period, 36-year-old Marc Waters had savings that varied between £6,000 and £30,026, said prosecutor Stuart McLeese. He was jailed for 12 months and ordered to pay costs of £340.

Said Recorder Timothy Brennan: “Your claim was fraudulent from the outset and it was over a long period of time.”

Waters had been convicted by Cardiff Magistrates of making a false statement to obtain benefits and failing to inform the authorities of his change of circumstances.

Mr McLeese said that £9,700 remained outstanding. He said Waters had claimed support allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefits between May 2010 and July 2014. The total he dishonestly obtained was £12,854.

Prior to that, said Mr McLeese, he had been claiming incapacity benefit and said he had been unable to work and had no savings. But he had savings, at one time over £30,000 which he had not declared.

When interviewed by the authorities, he said he “didn’t pay attention to important stuff” and had “taken his eye off his savings.” He later said he realised the importance of declaring his entire position.

The Recorder said he had received in the past a suspended prison sentence for 12 months for Trading Standards offences.

His solicitor, Vince Williams, said: “It is unfortunate that these matters were not dealt with at the time of the Trading Standards offences. He has written to the court a letter of apology and has expressed complete remorse.”

Mr Williams said that Waters had operated by “moving his money around”. He added: “It is highly unlikely you will see him before a court again. I cannot argue that the offences do not cross the custody threshhold.”

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Here is an outline of a pilot scheme which could save us a lot of money.

A pilot programme to track down children missing from schools is also set to recover millions of pounds in fraudulent benefit claims.

Bradford Council, alongside Sheffield, Leeds, Harrow and Lancashire, are involved in the joint programme with HM Revenue and Customs, which started in January.

Councils have responsibility for all children registered at their schools which continues until it is confirmed the child has left their areas.

The trial, which runs until June, sees the councils sharing details of any children who have been reported as missing from school with HMRC after their officers have “exhausted” all other enquiries to find them.

HMRC then checks if the families are in receipt of any benefits, and, if there are any differences in addresses, they undergo further checks. It is estimated that £6 million of benefit fraud will be uncovered by the end of the trial period.

Alina Khan, Bradford’ Council’s strategic manager for education safeguarding, told the children’s services scrutiny committee, it had passed on details of 59 families to HMRC:

We have been passed details of alternative addresses for five families, and so far we have located four out of these five. Some are outside our local authority, and others are abroad. There are some families claiming benefits in the UK for children that no longer live in the country. There are huge monetary gains for HMRC. We are working for this to be rolled out as a standard practice beyond June. The HMRC will make a decision in this over the summer, and we hope they re-instate this scheme in September.

Councillor Dale Smith, chairman of the which considered the report, said: “From our point of view, this is mainly about finding children who are missing from education but any savings will be great for local communities as well.”

The committee was told that data protection issues meant the council were unable to share details of the families with other local authorities not involved in the pilot, even if the “missing” family is now living in their area. Cllr Smith said: “We should all lobby our MPs to have this pilot more widely extended.”

Councillor Imran Khan, the Council’s executive member for education, employment and skills said he hoped the work will continue after the trial period expires.

“This is the first time we have been able to share this information and until now had not been able to access the addresses of families who receive child benefits,” he said. “We have already seen positive results through this work in locating missing children so we are keen for this to continue beyond the six months of the pilot project.”

The Bradford paper rightly calls for the scheme to be rolled out nationally very soon:

For many years, dealing with the problem of pupils going ‘missing’ from school rolls has dogged Bradford and other councils.

The problem has even been exacerbated in recent years as increased EU migration has produced a more transient population.

Alarming as the figures can seem at face value, the vast majority of cases are simply caused by the fact that parents or guardians fail to tell local authorities when they remove pupils from schools to move to other parts of the country or, in many cases, abroad.

But substantial costs can be incurred in trying to locate those children, including working closely with police in some instances to ensure a child’s safety is not at risk.

Those checks can also be hampered by the Data Protection Act which, unbelievably so in these particular circumstances, outlaws families’ personal information being shared between local authorities.

Now, a ray of common sense has emerged in dealing with this issue.

As we report today, Bradford and four other local authorities are involved a pilot scheme with Her Majesty’s Customs and Revenue using data-sharing agreements.

Its success has been immediately apparent.

Four out of five ‘missing’ Bradford families whose new addresses have been obtained through the data-sharing agreement have been found either in this country or aboard.

And it is forecast that when the six-month trial ends in June, the HMRC will also have uncovered £6 million of benefit fraud.

It seems obvious that this scheme should be adopted nationally and rolled out very soon.

The bereaved family of a 91-year-old gran had a shock when they discovered she was a serial fraudster who had been fleecing the taxpayer for 35 years.

Ivy Johnson, of New North Road, Hoxton, had savings totalling £135,000 but paid just £7 of her £117 rent, had a care allowance and paid no council tax.

She did it by pretending a bank account containing £9,000 was all she had, when in fact she had 15 times that amount in savings, premium bonds and even shares in Santander.

Her family discovered the dirty money after Ivy died two weeks ago and have tried to give it back to the authorities – but are having a hard time getting them to take it.

One relative, who didn’t want to be named for fear of creating a rift in the family, told the Gazette: “I nearly had a heart attack. I’m really angry. How can any family inherit £135,000 of taxpayers’ money? All these benefits, carers going in four times a day – you are meant to pay for it if you’ve got the money. What about these poor people who are homeless on the street? We’d have inherited out of this but there’s no way we could touch money like that. It’s an embarrassment to us.

“We want them to take it all back, but Hackney Council don’t seem bothered. I’ve not heard back from them. This is not £5,000 or £10,000 – it’s £135,000. I also called the benefit fraud hotline and they told me it will probably be written off because she’s dead!”

The relative said Ivy knew what she was doing, and had “all her marbles”. “Money was her god. Money, money, money. She was on about it all the time, even in her 90s. She was extremely dishonest.”

A Hackney Council spokesman said the town hall had passed the information on to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which investigates cases of fraud.

The DWP did not comment when approached by the Hackney Gazette, referring them to its Freedom of Information department. Responses to FOI requests take a month and are not meant to disclose personal data.

A man has been spared jail after he claimed £15,000 in benefits saying that he was too depressed and ‘anxious’ to work.

Stephen Astbury, 31, spent two years on benefits saying he had a split personality disorder.

But investigators collared him when they saw him on Facebook on a jet ski, snorkelling, posing with parrots, and in front of the Eiffel Tower.

The pictures also showed him working in the construction and scrap metal industries, quad biking, scrambling on bikes and using a JCB.

Magistrates in Blackburn heard that Astbury, from Great Harwood, Lancashire, was given a 90 per cent chance of losing his life in a crash on the M66 and was left unable to work.

Prosecutor Miss Enza Geldard said: ‘The defendant falsely claimed Employment Support Benefit and Housing benefit and this has led to a considerable over payment totalling £15,214. He had begun collecting ESA in 2010 on the basis that he was too ill to work and applied for housing benefit alongside this. He provided evidence that he was unfit to work due to a split personality disorder as well as anxiety and depression.

‘He was informed to notify the Department of Work and Pensions if his situation was to change. However in July 2014 evidence from his Facebook page showed that he was conduction scrap metal work. Evidence also showed that he was insured on a number of vehicles. They were insured for business purposes but the defendant was still entitled to drive these vehicles.’

A probation officer told the court: ‘The defendant accepts these charges but claims he was not aware he had to inform the DWP as he we was earning less than £100 a week. He has sole custody of his daughter and wants to give her a better life and spent the money on that. He was remorseful for his actions. He has five children in total with just his daughter residing in his care and he has built up debts of £9,000 – he will be needing assistance with that debt.’

Defending, Ian Huggan said: ‘This was not fraud from the outset the fraudulent claims began in 2013. People can still claim benefits if they are working less than 16 hours a week or earning less than £100 a week and there was some confusion surrounding that.

‘He is the sole carer of a seven year-old daughter and that is something that came about in 2013. He is someone who has made great steps to move forward in that regard. He describes himself as an uneducated tear away as a child when he was residing at home with his mother and step father. Last month he was involved in a very serious road traffic collision where he was in a situation of having a 90% chance of losing his life. He believes that this is a chance and opportunity to provide for his family.’

Astbury was given a 32 week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and was ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge. Sentencing, JP Irene Devine said: ‘We have heard the evidence in regards to the fact that you didn’t initially set out to defraud the DWP or indeed the people. Looking at this you are trying to do everything you can to get your life back on track so we are going to try and deal with this in a sympathetic way but punish you at the same time. We hope this will prevent you from defrauding the department of work and pensions and the people again.’

P.S. Celia Walden (£) suggests Astbury was suffering from cretinitis.

A Gloucester housing provider is using technology to combat tenancy fraud and release homes for those in genuine need.

Tenancy fraud is leaving many Gloucester families without a place to truly call home.

Across the county, unlawful tenants are blocking access to housing already in short supply from those in need, many of whom are being forced into temporary accommodation.

For Gloucester City Council, the issue has huge financial significance, with temporary accommodation a costly repercussion. If stamped out, money drained by tenancy fraud could be spent elsewhere.

Gloucester City Homes (GCH), which manages almost 5,000 properties across the county, decided to use data technology to take a proactive approach in tackling the issue. Since October 2016 it has been using Housing Partner's Insight software, which combines information on tenants from hundreds of sources, to set pointers for criminal activity.

Sara Hendry, Anti-Social Behaviour Manager at GCH, said: "Insight has notified us of 70 potential fraud alerts. From these, we're currently considering proceeding with two criminal convictions, both of which are sub-letting cases. In one, we have strong evidence of unlawful profit being made. Both properties have now been returned to us.

"Using this technology, it's easier to really get to know our tenants. We can see who needs our help with debt and money worries, and spot those that are potentially committing criminal offences."

It is estimated that around 50,000 housing association and council homes in the UK are occupied by someone who shouldn't live there.

Local councils in England have spent around £3.5bn on temporary accommodation over the last five years.

Before using Insight, GCH was using a combination of sources to identify and prevent fraud.

Manually collating information, the social landlord would consider things such as long periods of time without a repair reported or maintenance staff being unable to access properties for routine gas checks.

However, this method was time consuming and did not always identify fraud.

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This report is muddled, in that it fails to distinguish between City and County.

But sadly there are more families needing social housing than could be housed even if all the fraudulently occupied accommodation became available.

A WOMAN who pocketed £250,000 in her divorce settlement and sneakily claimed £27,000 in benefits has been spared jail.

Assa Brown was paid £21,731 in housing benefit, £2,233 in council tax benefit and £3,114 in jobseeker’s allowance while renting out a posh flat for £1,000 a month.

She had lawfully claimed benefits for the first time in October 2010, saying she was single and had a child in the household. But this became fraudulent one month later when she received her huge divorce pay-out, Warwick Crown Court was told.

The law graduate used her pay-off to buy the flat in Kingston-upon-Thames.

She admitted failing to notify a change in circumstances and making false statements to obtain benefits from 2010 to 2014.

Brown, 50, of Warwick, was jailed for four months, suspended for two years.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told her: “Every day you knew you were receiving money to which you were not entitled.”

So far, Brown has repaid £4,640.

Source with pictures

Benefit cheat Linda Harrison has walked free from court - despite duping the state out of more than £61,000.

The 54-year-old continued to claim handouts despite living with her partner who was working between September 2008 and May 2015. Now Harrison – who has now been dumped by her partner - has been handed a suspended jail sentence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.

Prosecutor Joanne Wallbanks said the defendant dishonestly failed to tell Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) that she was living with Terence Cheadle from September 2008.

Miss Wallbanks said: “He had been living with her from the beginning of September 2008. The benefits were initially paid as she was unfit for work, she had no other income and she was not living with her partner. But she failed to notify a change of her circumstances in 2008. Since the matter came to light she has repaid £700."

The court heard Harrison was overpaid a total of £61,183.75.

Harrison, of Dunster Road, Longton, pleaded guilty to two charges of benefit fraud.

Stuart Muldoon, mitigating, said the defendant, who has no previous convictions, has severe health problems. Mr Muldoon said: “She is quite a vulnerable woman. Her partner was working in Stoke-on-Trent and living out the area. He asked if he could move in. She did not think it was a relationship that was going to carry on but accepts she was dishonest. He did not contribute towards the household. All he was doing was paying half towards the food. She did not live a lavish lifestyle, she did not have holidays or a car. She was with a partner who was taking advantage of her vulnerability."

Judge Paul Glenn sentenced Harrison to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a rehabilitation activity requirement for 20 days.

Judge Glenn said: “Over a period of almost seven years you made fraudulent claims for benefits. You defrauded the state out of more than £61,000. Your initial claims in 1990 were legitimate but you dishonestly failed to notify the authorities when you took up with a new partner who lived with you from 2008 and was working. As a result you had an additional tax-free income of more than £8,000 a year. These are serious offences as benefit cheats are misappropriating monies which would otherwise be spent on deserving good causes. The victims are the honest taxpayers.

“The risk of you re-offending, I accept, is extremely low. You have had a serious medical problem in the last year, a tumour was removed, and you are still in poor health.

“Your personal mitigation means I am going to suspend the sentence. It is very rare I do that in these circumstances."

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Pensioner Alan Barlow dishonestly pocketed £93,659.90 in benefits after claiming he was living in Stoke-on-Trent – when he was really in Thailand with his new wife and two children. (h/t Tenancy Fraud)

The 67-year-old kept his Potteries council house as a 'bolt hole' and would return to the UK for NHS medical treatment.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Barlow falsely claimed council tax benefit, housing benefit, pension credits and disability living allowance (DLA) for several years – and even continued after being convicted of benefit fraud in 2011.

Now the defendant is starting a 16-month jail term after admitting four further counts of benefit fraud.

Barlow was correctly granted DLA in 2005 after suffering from a number of health problems, including multiple sclerosis and chronic lung disease.

Prosecutor Richard McConaghy said: "The fraud comes from the fact that for the main part, at least from 2010, he was living in Thailand. He met his now wife there in the late 1990s and began to spend more and more time there."

The court heard Stoke-on-Trent City Council stopped his council tax benefit and housing benefit in 2008 because of the time he spent in Thailand. He successfully got the benefits reinstated after saying he had been unaware of a rule that prohibited him from claiming while spending a period of more than 13 weeks out of the country. But he continued to spend most of his time in Thailand.

Mr McConaghy said: "In 2011 he received a conditional discharge from magistrates in relation to benefits, for exactly the same reasons we are concerned about in this case, and for exactly the same reasons his housing benefit and council tax benefit were cancelled in 2008 – that this country was no longer his main residence. It didn't stop him. He married in Thailand in 2014. The relationship he had there involved two children – one of whom was adopted. His council house in this country was used as a base to get medical treatment."

Barlow pleaded guilty to three counts of dishonestly failing to notify a change in his circumstances, and one of cheating the public revenue.

The court heard Barlow has started paying the cash back - at a rate of £30-a-week.

Robert Holt, mitigating, said: "He had a desire to be with his family because he feared being alone. He thinks he has not very long left in his life and he wishes to die in Thailand."

The court heard Barlow is on the waiting list for another council house in the city.

Jailing Barlow, Judge David Fletcher said: "You were fully aware that by maintaining a permanent residence outside the UK that the claims you were making for four different types of financial assistance were fraudulent. Having been convicted, you simply carried on doing what you were doing before. You were perfectly content that the taxpayers in the UK funded your life, and that of your wife and children, in Thailand."

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A woman who lied about living at her mother's council house so she could inherit it after her mum died has been convicted at court.

The case against Cara Wood, from Paignton, was brought by Plymouth City Council's Corporate Fraud team on behalf of Teignbridge Council.

Wood appeared at Plymouth Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where she was convicted of making a false claim on 9 October 2014 to Teign Housing by stating that she lived at 39 Furlong Close, Buckfast for at least 12 months with a view to gaining a succession right to the property following her mother's death.

On further investigation, the electoral roll and council tax records of Teignbridge Council showed Cara Wood's mother, Deborah Lawton, as living alone at the property during the period Wood referred to, and Wood actually living above a wine bar at 14 North Street, Ashburton at the time of her mother's death. The court heard Wood had not lived at the Furlong Close address for at least five years.

Wood was also convicted of making a dishonest false statement with a view to gain for herself by indicating that she had held a social tenancy for at least three years to qualify for the Right to Buy a social housing property at 29 Westabrook in Ashburton by stating that she had held a social housing property between August 2008 and June 2015.

Had Wood been successful in her Right To Buy application, she would have saved herself £57,750 on buying the property. The court was told she withdrew her application after an interview under caution.

Wood received a five month prison sentence for each offence to run consecutively, suspended for 12 months. She was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £450 and a victim surcharge of £85.

In mitigation, the court heard that Wood had been pressured by family members to apply so her sister and her family could obtain the property. Wood said she did it to stop her sister and children from becoming homeless.

Councillor Ian Darcy, cabinet member for finance for Plymouth City Council said: "This case sends a clear message that we will not tolerate any fraud in Plymouth, and in particular housing fraud, at a time when there is a large waiting list for social housing. The conviction was for an offence that is contrary to the Fraud Act 2006. Social housing properties are at a premium in the UK and a scarce asset. Social housing cheats deprive those in genuine need of one of the most basic needs in life – somewhere to live."

The Corporate Fraud Team operate as the South West Anti-Fraud Service and cover the whole region. They said they have already had a number of successes for other local authorities across Devon as well as Plymouth City Council.

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A man who fraudulently received nearly £18,000 in benefits has been jailed for two years and ordered to pay back his illegal gains. (h/t FraudManager)

Dabeer Ul Haque forged documents to get the keys to a council flat and receive higher housing benefit payments.

When handing down the sentence at Kingston Crown Court on March 24, Judge Michael Hunter said it was a "carefully planned and sophisticated fraud".

The court heard Ul Haque, who now lives in New Malden, made a housing benefit claim in 2010 for an address in Gressenhall in Southfields. He submitted a forged tenancy agreement which stated his landlord was charging him £2,050 rent a month when in reality he was paying £1,650. When his wife found work, he did not report it to the council and went on to forge documents to get a council flat.

Mr Ul Haque pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and was jailed for two years. Upon release he must pay back £18,000.

Housing spokesman Cllr Paul Ellis said: "This was a particularly sophisticated and elaborate fraud but one which failed to mislead or confuse our investigators and as a result Mr Ul Haque is now serving a two year prison sentence. And once he is released from detention he will have to start paying back the money he swindled.

"This case should serve as a warning to people who are tempted to try and fiddle cash from the benefit system.

"We do routine checks into hundreds of claims each year, regardless of when they were first made. If you are on the fiddle then we will catch up with you one day and when we do you will be prosecuted, you could go to jail and you will have to pay back everything you weren’t entitled to. If you are tempted to make a false claim, my advice to you would be think again."

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A benefit cheat fiddled more than £36,600 in wrongful payments by keeping quiet that she had married, a court heard.

Deborah Silvester, 40, from Owston Ferry, admitted three offences of fraud, including failing to notify a change of circumstances, between July 2012 and December 2014.

Stephen Robinson, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that the benefit claims were not initially dishonest but Silvester did not declare that she later got married. She did not tell the authorities that she was living with her husband, Jonathan Silvester.

She was overpaid overpaid benefit, including for housing and council tax, totalling £53,089 but because she would have been entitled to about £16,000 of that, the sum dishonestly received was £36,686.

Andrew Bailey, mitigating, said Silvester was ashamed of what she did and had no previous convictions.

Recorder Eric Elliott QC said Silvester had suffered emotional turmoil at the time and had a good work record in the past. She was genuinely remorseful and ashamed and realised how serious the matter was. "It's the taxpayer who ultimately has to foot the bill," he said.

Silvester was given 150 hours' unpaid work and 10 days' rehabilitation.

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A woman who falsely claimed more than £30,000 in benefits has been ordered by a judge to pay back “every last penny”.

Newport Crown Court heard Tracy Richards wrongly received thousands of pounds after failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions of changes in her circumstances.

Sentencing judge Recorder Paul Hopkins QC told the defendant: “You will re-pay every last penny to the tax payer that you owe.”

The court heard she made a valid application for working and child tax credits in October 2002, on the basis she was single with dependent children.

Prosecutors said she moved in with her husband Neil Richards in 2010, meaning she was no longer eligible for tax credits. The defendant did not notify the Department for Work and Pensions of the change in circumstances and continued to claim tax credits until April 2015.

Prosecutors said she received a total overpayment of £30,566.75 and highlighted the fact she made a number of false declarations.

The court heard she admitted the offence in a police interview in April 2015 and had no previous convictions.

Prosecutors suggested the starting point should be 36 weeks in prison, with a range from a medium level community order to 21 months in prison.

Working mum Richards, 46, from Bargoed , admitted one count of tax credit fraud.

Her barrister stressed she had used the money to support her family and continued to work throughout. He told the court she made “full and frank admissions” and cooperated fully with the investigating authorities.

Richards was committed to prison for four months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 20 days of a rehabilitation activity. Recorder Hopkins said: “I have been persuaded to give you a chance – don’t abuse that chance.”

A hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act will take place on July 10.

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A council tenant who illegally sublet her house has been given a suspended prison sentence. (h/t Tenancy Fraud)

Lisa McDermott made a profit of nearly £16,500 during a two-year period by leasing out her property in Earl's Court .

She had moved out of the home in July 2013 after buying a property with her husband in Battersea.

McDermott, was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

She had failed to declare that she was no longer living at Hunter House in Old Brompton Road , having purchased a new home in Wynter Street, Battersea in July 2013.

The 37-year-old sublet her Kensington and Chelsea property until March 2015, when the deception was uncovered during a visit from the local authority’s Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) , who alerted the council’s fraud team. It was established that McDermott was no longer resident at the property and instead another family was living at the address.

The court also heard that during this period she had paid the Royal borough rental income totalling £12,849, but sublet the sublet income received from the family totalled £29,295 - a profit of £16,446.

McDermott had pleaded guilty to dishonestly failing to disclose not using the property as a main and principal home and subletting contrary to Section 1 and 3 of the Fraud Act 2006 at an earlier court hearing.

In sentencing McDermott, the judge, Mr Recorder M Chawla QC, stated in his view the offence was so serious a community order would not itself be appropriate and crossed the threshold of custody. In mitigation he said the defendant was of previous good character and gave her credit for the early guilty plea.

At her sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on Friday (March 31) she was also ordered to complete a rehabilitation requirement programme within the next year. A Proceeds of Crime confiscation hearing has also set up a timetable to recover the money taken.

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A St Albans lapdancer who was earning £150 a night in a strip club carried on claiming benefits - tricking the authorities into believing she was a single mum with no job. (h/t Dave)

Hannah Panayides, 35, claimed social security benefits for two years, despite working at Diamonds and Strings in The Parade. The mother-of-one also admitted working for an online adult entertainment company ‘Adult Work' - where she could earn £100 a day.

Benefit fraud investigators at Watford Borough Council received a tip-off about Panayides last year and started to look into her lifestyle. They found that in a period of 13 months, she was paid £22,000.

Panayides was summoned to court and as a consequence of her failing to attend the case was heard in her absence last week. She was found guilty of fraud and fined £440.

Last year, Panayides was fined £332 for using a colour television without a licence.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has cancelled her claim for social security benefits between March 2015 and May 2016 and created an overpayment.

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An HMRC worker who scammed her own bosses out of £65,000 after lying to them about her marriage has been jailed.

Nicola Farningham, 39, from Dundee, was jailed for 21 weeks at Dundee Sheriff Court after admitting benefit fraud. The court heard she committed the offence right under the noses of benefit bosses at HMRC’s call centre.

Farningham was employed as a tax credit advisor, giving the public advice about their eligibility for working and child tax credits. She then used this knowledge to create her own fraudulent scheme, which she conducted for nine years, claiming thousands in tax credits.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson said: “The accused declared she was single in 2005 and in all reviews she claimed there was no change in her circumstances. She declared her annual household income was between £7,253 and £15,111, which was her income from HMRC. An investigation revealed she had married Paul Farningham in 2007 and they had four children together.”

The couple had opened a joint bank account in 2004 and had a joint mortgage for a home they bought in 2005.

Surveillance was carried out on the property and Mr Farningham was seen coming and going and using a key.

In 2014 the home was raided and investigating officers found correspondence for Mr Farningham inside, including wage slips and Valentine’s Day cards from Mrs Farningham.

The court heard none of the money Farningham claimed from HMRC has been repaid but today at court she offered £40,410. Where did that come from?

Solicitor Kevin Hampton, defending, said: “She and her husband had a very unconventional marriage — they never lived together and more often than not he was elsewhere. She knew she should have brought this to the attention of the Department of Work and Pensions. This was not to fund an extravagant lifestyle, it was simply to pay bills.”

Farningham admitted fraudulently claiming child and working tax credits.

Sheriff Carmichael said: “This is a sad and familiar tale but ultimately it’s a fraud on the public purse and taxpayer, and I’ve come to the conclusion there is no other sentence other than one of imprisonment.”

Source

A businessman who fraudulently claimed more than £21,000 in benefits on behalf of his father was convicted of fraud. (h/t Dave)

Adrian Young, aged 57, from Fenny Drayton, made an application for council tax and housing benefit for his father but failed to disclose he owned the property in question.

Young was also living in the large detached property in May 2011 with his girlfriend which he had bought for £710,000 years earlier.

The businessman denied benefit fraud saying his parents lived in an annexe of the house. He also said dyslexia had contributed to him submitting information in error.

Dave points out Mr Young's web site. If his dyslexia was so bad that council benefit forms confused him, would you trust his financial advice?

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, who brought the prosecution, assessed Mr Young’s claim on the basis of the information declared in the application form which resulted in an overpayment of £21,099.86 in council tax and housing benefit. Had he made the relevant declarations, his father would not have been entitled to any benefits.

Young was sentenced to an eight month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after being found guilty at Leicester Crown Court. In addition, he was ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work in the community and to pay £12,000 in costs to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council within the next three months.

Young has already repaid the £21,000 overpayment to the council.

In sentencing, the Judge accused Young of trying to “pull the wool over everyone’s eyes”, by “taking advantage of the system”, adding that during his evidence, he found Young “evasive” and “intent upon putting forward your circumstances as an excuse.”

Speaking after the case, Storme Coop, benefit operational manager at the Borough Council said: “This was a thorough investigation which proved that Mr Young lied to the council in order to falsely claim thousands of pounds in housing benefit and council tax benefit his family was not entitled to. Housing benefit and council tax benefit exists so that qualifying households can receive help when they need it. Young abused this scheme and as a result he now has a criminal record and a bill of over £12,000 to pay."

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This will not enhance Mr Young's career.

A childminder who conned taxpayers out of more than £51,000 in disability benefits by claiming she could not walk is facing jail.

Candace Dellaway, 49, from New Addington, lied for nine years that numbness in her legs meant she was constantly in danger of falling over and hurting herself.

Despite claiming she needed help at home, Dellaway continued to work full-time in childcare between June 2006 and October 2015.

When confronted about her lies, she insisted that all she did was watch children and left the heavy lifting to other staff.

The court heard Dellaway made genuine benefit claims for a back condition in March 2003 and June 2004 up until 2006. But she failed to tell the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that her condition had improved and made repeated ‘exaggerated’ false claims in May 2006 and April 2009.

In total she received £51,772.53 in disability payments by claiming she was ‘unable or virtually unable to walk’.

Prosecutor Augusta Akusu-Ossai said: ‘She stated that the effort or working was dangerous, it exacerbated her back condition and she loses her balance and falls as her legs go numb and give way'.

Dellaway also falsely claimed she had problems getting ‘in and out of bed and the bath’. But her work colleagues gave statements saying she was a ‘fully active member of staff’.

Miss Akusu-Ossai added: ‘Her full time job in child care, involving physically demanding tasks on a daily basis contradicted her condition as she claimed.’

When interviewed Dellaway said they were ‘all lying’ and her role was ‘not an active one’. She said her job wasn’t physical as she ‘just watches children’ and did not lift heavy equipment, as she would just ask other staff to do it.

Miss Akusu-Ossai told the court: ‘The Disability Living Allowance was given on the grounds that she was unable or virtually unable to walk and needed help from another person and this requirement was through the day and the night. It was paid via an automated credit transfer into her Lloyds bank account. It was paid on the basis of what she had disclosed, her medical circumstances, at the time of the original claim and notified the DWP of any change of circumstances or improvement in her medical condition. In the process of making her Disability Living Allowance claims Mrs Dellaway exaggerated her medical condition.’

Magistrate Douglas Hunter adjourned the case for reports leaving all options open including the case to go to the crown court for sentence.

He said: ‘These matters are extremely serious. The amount that has been claimed exceeds £50,000 and because of that a custodial sentence is appropriate. However, before that we are going to ask for reports on you all options open including a custodial sentence and committal to the crown court as the appropriate sentence will exceed the sentencing powers which magistrates can give.’

Dellaway pleaded guilty to dishonestly failing notify a change of circumstances affecting entitlement to social security benefit and two charges of dishonestly making a false statement to obtain a benefit.

She is currently paying back the £51,000 at a rate of £20 a week, though she did say the rate of payment ‘could go up’.

Dellaway left the court by sneaking out of a back door and was spotted walking swiftly away down the road yelling ‘fuck off’ at a group of reporters. She was released on unconditional bail to next appear at Croydon Magistrates Court on 26 April when she will either be sentenced or her case will be sent to the crown court.

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Every so often, someone claims benefits on the basis that they are single, when they're not. They then splash news of their wedding or honeymoon on Facebook, making their single parent benefit fraud rather obvious. Dave has noticed this latest example.

A woman who fraudulently claimed benefits as a single mother for nearly three years was caught when she posted her wedding photographs on Facebook.

Chanice Bowen, 25, of Barry, had told the Department for Work and Pensions she and her partner split up in January 2013, and her benefit payments rose. But she married him in October 2013, and went on to receive £22,000 she was not entitled to.

She was given a 10-month suspended sentence and told to repay the money.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the DWP had been told about Bowen's Facebook page, with a slideshow of wedding photographs captioned: "Best years of my life, loves my husband."

Prosecutor Andrew Davies said: "In January 2013 Bowen wrote a letter saying Lee Mapstone had left the family home. As a result she received an increase in benefits as a single parent and someone not in work. But they married at the civil register office on October 10, 2013."

When interviewed under caution in December 2015, she said she could not remember what she was doing on the day she married her partner Lee Mapstone.

Bowen pleaded guilty to three counts of dishonestly failing to disclose information about being overpaid £21,696 between January 2013 and November 2015. Adam Sharp, defending, said: "She accepts she embarked on this enterprise out of greed, albeit to support her daughter. She is in a stable relationship and actively seeking employment and is fit for work. The effects of sending her into custody would have a particularly devastating impact on her family."

Bowen was initially remanded into custody for a night while Judge Stephen Hopkins QC considered her sentence. However the following day he told her she had "escaped immediate custody by a cat's whisker". He suspended her sentence after deciding jailing her would have an "enormous" effect on her daughter. Bowen was also ordered to repay the money and to complete 120 hours of unpaid work in a year, plus pay £500 prosecution costs. The court heard Bowen had already repaid £2,000 over the past year.

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