A Weymouth man has been warned he faces jail after admitting benefit fraud charges totalling nearly £40,000.
John Harvey, pictured, of Dorchester Road, admitted eleven fraud charges in an appearance at Dorchester Crown Court.
The offences included two charges of fraud by false representation relating to 57-year-old Harvey applying for Job Seekers’ Allowance in the name of John Le Rouze and failing to declare that he was in receipt of an occupational pension under the name of John Harvey.
He also pleaded guilty to charges of fraud by failing to disclose information relating to a failure to declare to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that he was working and fraud by false representation involving an application to the DWP for a National Insurance number.
Harvey admitted a further five charges of fraud by failing to disclose information relating to failures to disclose to the DWP that he was working and failing to inform Weymouth and Portland Borough Council that he was claiming benefits and in receipt of a pension when claiming housing benefit and council tax and failing to disclose bank accounts.
He also admitted a charge of possession of an article for use in fraud relating to a UK passport.
The offences took place between July 2004 and February last year and prosecutor Rufus Taylor said they involved a total loss of £37,973.20. The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report and Harvey was bailed to return to Dorchester Crown Court to be sentenced on February 22.
Judge Roger Jarvis told the defendant: “You have admitted a large number of serious matters stretching over a significant period of time and plain it is the court will be thinking of custody by way of punishment.”
30 Jan 2012
Another councillor benefit fraud?
The leader of Broxtowe Borough Council has been charged with benefit fraud of more than £45,000.
Milan Radulovic is accused of failing to declare council allowances on an incapacity benefit claim form.
The Labour councillor is due to appear in court on 16 March.
Mr Radulovic was council leader from 1995 until 2007 - the same year he received an MBE - and resumed the position last year.
In 2005, he won a six-figure payout from the Queen's Medical Centre for suffering serious health problems after an operation.
The politician was left almost blind in one eye from keyhole surgery complications to remove a gallstone.
Medical staff went ahead with the procedure despite Mr Radulovic requesting open surgery.
Milan Radulovic is accused of failing to declare council allowances on an incapacity benefit claim form.
The Labour councillor is due to appear in court on 16 March.
Mr Radulovic was council leader from 1995 until 2007 - the same year he received an MBE - and resumed the position last year.
In 2005, he won a six-figure payout from the Queen's Medical Centre for suffering serious health problems after an operation.
The politician was left almost blind in one eye from keyhole surgery complications to remove a gallstone.
Medical staff went ahead with the procedure despite Mr Radulovic requesting open surgery.
29 Jan 2012
Councillor's benefit fraud - 1
A councillor who pleaded guilty to three counts of benefit fraud totalling nearly £3,000 has been given a curfew and ordered to carry out unpaid community work.
But Tony Brice, 67, who represents the Lindley ward on Kirklees Council says he is determined to appeal and to retain his position on the council despite his Conservative group disowning him last year when the 21-strong group voted to expel him.
Magistrates in Halifax heard that Brice had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing in Dewsbury to obtaining £2,977 in benefits to which he was not entitled.
For the prosecution, Samantha Lawton, said the offences related to non-disclosure of information beginning in May 2010 regarding pension income, an HSBC Isa account and a savings account.
This was compounded in July that year by his failing to notify the authorities that there had been a change in his financial circumstances – namely he had been receiving a second pension of £67 a month for five months.
Then in October he failed to declare an increase in income from a pension which had risen from £392 to £442.
Ms Lawton said he had a number of opportunities to notify the council of the changes during 2010 but failed to do so.
“The application was false from the outset and had a good knowledge of the benefits system,” she told the court.
Bill Rawstron, defending, said Brice from Huddersfield, had not been a member of the council at the time the offences were committed after losing his seat that year and one of the most important factors in mitigation was his client’s poor mental state at the time.
“At the time the defendant was charged with matters of deception and to his dying breath he will deny that he behaved dishonestly,” he said, adding that Brice was originally facing three allegations of dishonest benefit fraud though the dishonest aspect was later withdrawn.
Mr Rawstron said a doctor’s report revealed him as “a man who was going through a greatly stressful and difficult time” and both members of the public and members of other political parties had provided character references saying that ‘this is not a dishonest man but a man of industry and determination’.
“He is still in employment,” he added. “This is not a case of dishonesty. The offences were committed at a time when he had lost his seat.
“He is a man in his sixties who is of impeccable character and clearly a man of integrity. He acted not in character and in a way that was unfortunately due to stress-related medical problems.”
Chairman of the bench George Salter told Brice he would have to pay £1,908 in costs at £159 a month for 12 months.
He imposed a curfew on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 10pm to 10am and sentenced him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work for the benefit of people at large.
Afterwards, Brice said: “I am not very happy with the sentence.”
Mr Rawstron added: “We are actively considering an appeal against the sentence.”
Brice’s future on the council is uncertain – it is expected he will have to appear before Kirklees Council’s Standards Committee at a date yet to be fixed.
Brice, who was first elected to represent Lindley in 2004, was suspended from the Conservative Party in October last year when the allegations came to light.
In December he was expelled from the Tory group on Kirklees Council and Brice said he would stay on as an independent councillor.
Tory group business manager Coun Christine Smith said at the time the decision to expel him was made on a permanent basis and was agreed by all members, reflecting the seriousness of the charges.
But Tony Brice, 67, who represents the Lindley ward on Kirklees Council says he is determined to appeal and to retain his position on the council despite his Conservative group disowning him last year when the 21-strong group voted to expel him.
Magistrates in Halifax heard that Brice had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing in Dewsbury to obtaining £2,977 in benefits to which he was not entitled.
For the prosecution, Samantha Lawton, said the offences related to non-disclosure of information beginning in May 2010 regarding pension income, an HSBC Isa account and a savings account.
This was compounded in July that year by his failing to notify the authorities that there had been a change in his financial circumstances – namely he had been receiving a second pension of £67 a month for five months.
Then in October he failed to declare an increase in income from a pension which had risen from £392 to £442.
Ms Lawton said he had a number of opportunities to notify the council of the changes during 2010 but failed to do so.
“The application was false from the outset and had a good knowledge of the benefits system,” she told the court.
Bill Rawstron, defending, said Brice from Huddersfield, had not been a member of the council at the time the offences were committed after losing his seat that year and one of the most important factors in mitigation was his client’s poor mental state at the time.
“At the time the defendant was charged with matters of deception and to his dying breath he will deny that he behaved dishonestly,” he said, adding that Brice was originally facing three allegations of dishonest benefit fraud though the dishonest aspect was later withdrawn.
Mr Rawstron said a doctor’s report revealed him as “a man who was going through a greatly stressful and difficult time” and both members of the public and members of other political parties had provided character references saying that ‘this is not a dishonest man but a man of industry and determination’.
“He is still in employment,” he added. “This is not a case of dishonesty. The offences were committed at a time when he had lost his seat.
“He is a man in his sixties who is of impeccable character and clearly a man of integrity. He acted not in character and in a way that was unfortunately due to stress-related medical problems.”
Chairman of the bench George Salter told Brice he would have to pay £1,908 in costs at £159 a month for 12 months.
He imposed a curfew on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 10pm to 10am and sentenced him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work for the benefit of people at large.
Afterwards, Brice said: “I am not very happy with the sentence.”
Mr Rawstron added: “We are actively considering an appeal against the sentence.”
Brice’s future on the council is uncertain – it is expected he will have to appear before Kirklees Council’s Standards Committee at a date yet to be fixed.
Brice, who was first elected to represent Lindley in 2004, was suspended from the Conservative Party in October last year when the allegations came to light.
In December he was expelled from the Tory group on Kirklees Council and Brice said he would stay on as an independent councillor.
Tory group business manager Coun Christine Smith said at the time the decision to expel him was made on a permanent basis and was agreed by all members, reflecting the seriousness of the charges.
28 Jan 2012
Regional benefit variations
Labour call today for local benefits caps rather than one national figure. Of course they want more bureaucracy:
Several conclusions could be drawn, such as don't make taxpayers subsidise benefit claimants for rents in expensive areas over anything but a short term.
As the debate continues, bear in mind that benefits are not paid with government money. The government does not have any money. That money belongs to the people.
That is why we need a local cap and should have an independent body like the Low Pay Commission to determine the level at which it is set for different areas. It could advise on other necessary policies like regulating the private landlords who have done so much to drive up the costs of housing benefit.Which leads IDS to ask them:
I would be grateful if you could clarify whether you are proposing setting benefit rates on a regional basis.Indeed, Byrne has written that "all that £500 a week might get you in central London is a one-bedroom apartment, [but] in Rotherham, Yorkshire it would get you a six-bedroom house".
Several conclusions could be drawn, such as don't make taxpayers subsidise benefit claimants for rents in expensive areas over anything but a short term.
As the debate continues, bear in mind that benefits are not paid with government money. The government does not have any money. That money belongs to the people.
27 Jan 2012
More benefit thieves
A Barry woman has admitted £24,000 single person fraud.
Angela Lowery from Hartlepool admitted £17,815 single parent fraud. Information from the national benefit fraud hot-line had suggested she was living with her husband, who was working. She was given 24 weeks prison suspended for 12 months with probation supervision and 150 hours community work.
Janice Lee, also from Hartlepool, got away with a sentence of six months in prison suspended for two years, plus 140 hours of unpaid work, after pleading guilty to six offences of fraudulently claiming £38,009 in tax credits. Another single parent fraud.
Jodie Browning, from Batchley, admitted continuing to claim housing benefit and council tax benefit totalling £12,797 by failing to declare that she had started work and allowing her husband to claim incapacity benefit incorrectly by hiding the fact that she was working from him. How did she manage that?
Mubbashir Alam, from Deeplish, provided the council with a faked letter purporting to be from a solicitors’ firm in an attempt to help his partner obtain housing benefit payments for a fictitious tenancy. He was sentenced to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to repay full costs of £506 to the council.
Angela Lowery from Hartlepool admitted £17,815 single parent fraud. Information from the national benefit fraud hot-line had suggested she was living with her husband, who was working. She was given 24 weeks prison suspended for 12 months with probation supervision and 150 hours community work.
Janice Lee, also from Hartlepool, got away with a sentence of six months in prison suspended for two years, plus 140 hours of unpaid work, after pleading guilty to six offences of fraudulently claiming £38,009 in tax credits. Another single parent fraud.
Jodie Browning, from Batchley, admitted continuing to claim housing benefit and council tax benefit totalling £12,797 by failing to declare that she had started work and allowing her husband to claim incapacity benefit incorrectly by hiding the fact that she was working from him. How did she manage that?
Mubbashir Alam, from Deeplish, provided the council with a faked letter purporting to be from a solicitors’ firm in an attempt to help his partner obtain housing benefit payments for a fictitious tenancy. He was sentenced to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to repay full costs of £506 to the council.
26 Jan 2012
New policy on "anonymous" comments
A number of anonymous commenters have been trying to claim the moral high ground recently. The latest is this (reproduced unedited):
So the policy on anonymous comments is now that the anonymous posting facility is for benefit system employees. Other posters are expected to say who they are. This appears on the comments screen.
And not everyone who is eligible for benefits is aware and makes a claim, so there are savings elsewhere.I suppose the splenetic personal vituperation comes within the realm of free speech, unfounded though it is. But I draw the line at such self-righteousness being peddled anonymously, which has become the usual way.
See, it's actually costing 'us' not very much taken in context, but your bitter one-man crusade marches on blindly.
Imagine if all your spiteful passion could be directed at a worthy target!
You know full well grouping all these fraud claims together with your spurious fag packet calculations is ignoring the *whole* picture and simply serves to demonise the rest of the benefit receiving population. I imagine you take pleasure imagining cripples being attacked in the street. It is disingenuous to pretend your blog is anything other than a petty hate site.
"Fraud's only bad if a poor person does it."
So the policy on anonymous comments is now that the anonymous posting facility is for benefit system employees. Other posters are expected to say who they are. This appears on the comments screen.
Government employee jailed for £25k benefit fraud
A government tax credits adviser has been jailed after admitting a £25,000 benefit fraud.
Michelle Patten was employed by HM Revenue and Customs to give expert guidance to claimants.
But the mother-of-three from Gosforth, Newcastle, ignored the regulations she knew so well to cheat the system.
Patten was overpaid by up to £9,000 a year in tax credits after failing to disclose she was living with her partner, Richard Pembleton. She even enjoyed family holidays abroad while the swindle brought in the extra cash.
By the time her five-year fiddle was finally uncovered, the loss to the public purse had reached £25,293, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Now the 38-year-old is behind bars after admitting fraud between 2006 and 2011.
Imposing a six-month jail term, Judge Michael Cartlidge said: “I don’t think the public would understand if I did not pass an effective prison sentence.”
Patten, who had not been in trouble before, was an experienced and respected adviser when she began the fraud. She claimed tax credits on the basis that she was still single.
But from 2006 onwards she had been living as a couple with Mr Pembleton, the father of her youngest child. Year after year, Patten kept up the lie by signing annual declarations confirming her circumstances were unchanged. Only when suspicions last spring triggered a raid at the couple’s home was the fraud finally revealed, the court heard.
Jason Pitter, prosecuting, said: “Evidence was seized in the form of financial documents for Mr Pembleton, family photos showing him with the defendant and both of them with the children as well as family holiday photographs.
“The prosecution case is that given her employment, she would have known from the time they were living together as a couple she had a requirement to declare that and deliberately failed to do so.”
Anne Richardson, defending, said Patten felt “great shame”, took full responsibility and, having lost her job, would struggle to find similarly paid employment. Miss Richardson added: “She is acutely aware of what she has done through her own stupidity.”
Stupidity? Knowing dishonesty.
She urged the court to suspend any prison sentence to reflect Patten’s previous good character, remorse, and guilty plea at the first opportunity.
But Judge Cartlidge said: “What significantly aggravates the case is that throughout this period she was working for the revenue as a tax credits adviser so she knew very well how wrong her declarations were.”
Michelle Patten was employed by HM Revenue and Customs to give expert guidance to claimants.
But the mother-of-three from Gosforth, Newcastle, ignored the regulations she knew so well to cheat the system.
Patten was overpaid by up to £9,000 a year in tax credits after failing to disclose she was living with her partner, Richard Pembleton. She even enjoyed family holidays abroad while the swindle brought in the extra cash.
By the time her five-year fiddle was finally uncovered, the loss to the public purse had reached £25,293, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Now the 38-year-old is behind bars after admitting fraud between 2006 and 2011.
Imposing a six-month jail term, Judge Michael Cartlidge said: “I don’t think the public would understand if I did not pass an effective prison sentence.”
Patten, who had not been in trouble before, was an experienced and respected adviser when she began the fraud. She claimed tax credits on the basis that she was still single.
But from 2006 onwards she had been living as a couple with Mr Pembleton, the father of her youngest child. Year after year, Patten kept up the lie by signing annual declarations confirming her circumstances were unchanged. Only when suspicions last spring triggered a raid at the couple’s home was the fraud finally revealed, the court heard.
Jason Pitter, prosecuting, said: “Evidence was seized in the form of financial documents for Mr Pembleton, family photos showing him with the defendant and both of them with the children as well as family holiday photographs.
“The prosecution case is that given her employment, she would have known from the time they were living together as a couple she had a requirement to declare that and deliberately failed to do so.”
Anne Richardson, defending, said Patten felt “great shame”, took full responsibility and, having lost her job, would struggle to find similarly paid employment. Miss Richardson added: “She is acutely aware of what she has done through her own stupidity.”
Stupidity? Knowing dishonesty.
She urged the court to suspend any prison sentence to reflect Patten’s previous good character, remorse, and guilty plea at the first opportunity.
But Judge Cartlidge said: “What significantly aggravates the case is that throughout this period she was working for the revenue as a tax credits adviser so she knew very well how wrong her declarations were.”
Council stuck with legal delay
An Acton man who created five aliases to fraudulently claim more than £174,000 in benefits has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Brahim Lounnas appeared before Isleworth Crown Court on Monday, 16 January 2012.
Lounnas was brought before the courts after a lengthy investigation led by Ealing Council which uncovered one of the worst cases in the borough's history.
Over six years Lounnas used five false identities to make fraudulent housing and council tax benefit claims for addresses both in Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham. He used dozens of bogus documents, including bank cards and statements, payslips, tenancy agreements and national insurance numbers to support the false claims.
Councillor Yvonne Johnson, cabinet member for finance and performance, said: “This is one of the worst cases of its kind. This was a very slick fraud on a massive scale so I’m pleased the judge agreed he should be jailed. I hope other would-be fraudsters will get the message that we will catch them and bring them to justice.”
Lounnas, who has been remanded in custody since he was charged in February 2011, pleaded guilty to 13 benefit fraud offences. He was sentenced to serve three years in prison for each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. The time served on remand will be deducted.
Not long before he's out, then.
The council is also seeking a confiscation order to recover the stolen money and a hearing is expected to take place in July.
The presumption should be in favour of a confiscation order being made at the criminal trial.
Brahim Lounnas appeared before Isleworth Crown Court on Monday, 16 January 2012.
Lounnas was brought before the courts after a lengthy investigation led by Ealing Council which uncovered one of the worst cases in the borough's history.
Over six years Lounnas used five false identities to make fraudulent housing and council tax benefit claims for addresses both in Ealing and Hammersmith and Fulham. He used dozens of bogus documents, including bank cards and statements, payslips, tenancy agreements and national insurance numbers to support the false claims.
Councillor Yvonne Johnson, cabinet member for finance and performance, said: “This is one of the worst cases of its kind. This was a very slick fraud on a massive scale so I’m pleased the judge agreed he should be jailed. I hope other would-be fraudsters will get the message that we will catch them and bring them to justice.”
Lounnas, who has been remanded in custody since he was charged in February 2011, pleaded guilty to 13 benefit fraud offences. He was sentenced to serve three years in prison for each count, with the sentences to run concurrently. The time served on remand will be deducted.
Not long before he's out, then.
The council is also seeking a confiscation order to recover the stolen money and a hearing is expected to take place in July.
The presumption should be in favour of a confiscation order being made at the criminal trial.
25 Jan 2012
How much is benefit fraud costing us?
The government pretends benefit fraud is costing us £1.1bn annually. But I argue that the real figure is probably at least £5.5bn a year.
Teaching assistant appeals against jail for benefit fraud
A teaching assistant who cheated the taxpayer out of £29,709 over three years has been jailed for four months.
Clare Dominguez-Dona, 37, who worked at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Leigh, pocketed the cash in housing and council tax benefit after lying about being a single parent who rented her home.
Her fraud was uncovered when investigators from Southend Council discovered she was married and owned her house in Westcliff.
She was jailed after pleading guilty to two counts of dishonesty at Southend Magistrates’ Court and will have to repay the cash at a rate of £100 a month.
Land registry records showed Dominguez-Dona and her husband had bought their home in October 2004 for £230,000. But the mum-of-four continued to claim housing benefit to supplement her “rent” until December 2007, when she landed the teaching assistant job. She also claimed she received income support.
After council officers uncovered the fraud in June last year, she also admitted making a false statement on a housing benefit form in 2006.
Magistrates told her she had committed a serious offence over a long period of time and aggravated matters by making the false statement.
Dominguez-Dona has appealed against her sentence and is due to reappear in Basildon Crown Court on February 3.
Clare Dominguez-Dona, 37, who worked at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Leigh, pocketed the cash in housing and council tax benefit after lying about being a single parent who rented her home.
Her fraud was uncovered when investigators from Southend Council discovered she was married and owned her house in Westcliff.
She was jailed after pleading guilty to two counts of dishonesty at Southend Magistrates’ Court and will have to repay the cash at a rate of £100 a month.
Land registry records showed Dominguez-Dona and her husband had bought their home in October 2004 for £230,000. But the mum-of-four continued to claim housing benefit to supplement her “rent” until December 2007, when she landed the teaching assistant job. She also claimed she received income support.
After council officers uncovered the fraud in June last year, she also admitted making a false statement on a housing benefit form in 2006.
Magistrates told her she had committed a serious offence over a long period of time and aggravated matters by making the false statement.
Dominguez-Dona has appealed against her sentence and is due to reappear in Basildon Crown Court on February 3.
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