Back to jail for benefit thief who can pay, won't pay

Brian Sutcliffe has still not paid back the £167,944 he fraudently claimed and used to run his business, and has been given a 652-day sentence by Leeds magistrates.

In February 2008 he was jailed for three years. He was given a confiscation order in October 2008, giving him 12 months to pay back the money or face another two years in jail. When he appeared at Leeds magistrates last month, after being released early in May 2009, he had not repaid a penny.

He was told to reduce the price of his house – on the market for £560,000 – to a fair price.

Cumbersome prosecution of benefit fraud

A Margate man has been sentenced to a 240 hour Community Service Order and ordered to re-pay £5,000 of benefits he had falsely claimed.

Tony Wooller pleaded guilty at Thanet Magistrates Court to not informing the council that he had had a pay increase and that he had completed overtime at the shop he worked at. As a result, he was overpaid £7,090 of Housing Benefit and £1,252 of Council Tax Benefit.

He was ordered to complete a Community Service Order of 240 hours over a 12 month period and was also ordered to pay £350 towards the prosecution costs.

A £5,000 Compensation Order was made by the Magistrates, which is the maximum they can award, although the full £8,342 is to be re-paid by Mr. Wooller.

• Local authorities have estimated that benefit fraud costs each household £80-£100 a year.

More blue badge fraud cases at Enfield

Five more blue badge cheats from Enfield have been ordered to pay £1,450 by magistrates.

Mark Chapman pleaded guilty to using his deceased father’s badge and altering the expiry date, while Fadime Aydemir pleaded guilty to using her mother-in-law’s badge while she was in Turkey.

Georgios Panagiotou and Ali Saim both pleaded guilty to using their wives' badge while they was not present.

Angeliki Charalambous pleaded guilty to using a badge in Cecil Road that belonged to a friend who died in 2007.

Councillor Terry Neville, cabinet member for the environment, said:

We have just started our clampdown on blue badge theft, so I am sure we will be seeing many more cheats bought to justice.

I am afraid we are just tackling the tip of the iceberg, but I can assure residents we will continue to track down these cheats to protect parking places for genuine disabled drivers in Enfield.

Benefit fraud in a repertoire of crime

Stephen Robert Ward, from Cleethorpes, has been ordered to pay a total of £171,345 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 at Grimsby Crown Court.

This came after police were called to an address in Grimsby following an incident in which Mr Ward was assaulted.

When officers went into a bedroom to find some clothing for Mr Ward, they also found over £600 in cash, 33½ bars of cannabis resin and 335g of amphetamine with a street value thought to be around £27,000.

He was convicted of possession with intent to supply cannabis and amphetamine and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment and refused to make a complaint in relation to the assault he had suffered.

As this was not the first time Mr Ward had been investigated and charged with a drugs related offence, Humberside Police conducted a confiscation investigation and found that, despite not declaring any income to HMRC and claiming benefits to which he was not entitled, Mr Ward purchased a house for himself with his proceeds from crime and had significant savings in bank accounts.

The investigation found that Mr Ward had benefited from his criminal lifestyle netting himself over £200,000 over a six year period.

He now has to sell all of his assets and pay the confiscation order within six months or serve an additional 30 months imprisonment when his house can be forcibly sold.

"Disabled" benefit thief was football linesman

A Wigan man caught refereeing football matches while claiming thousands of pounds in benefits for crippling back pain has been penalised [yes, Wigan Today has more of these].

Magistrates blew the whistle [told ya] on Stephen Southern after he admitted claiming £11,601 in disability living allowance over a five-year period, despite a marked improvement in his condition.

In a dramatic courtroom scene, the case even had to be stood down for 20 minutes after the defendant's wife collapsed to the floor from her chair as she watched on nervously.

Click for more including a video of Mr Southern acting as a linesman.


Before his court appearance, he had begun paying off £150 per month - so even without interest he would take over six years to clear it.

He was handed an 18-month community order in which he must fulfil 300 hours of unpaid work, and a £200 penalty towards court costs.

Property dealer was benefit thief

Shabbir Chowdhury pocketed £45,000 in handouts, though he drove a Mercedes with a personalised number plate, and bought 12 houses across east London with £3million of loans after fraudulently filling in mortgage forms.

The married father and ex-postman, who lied to lenders while earning £105,000 a year as a marketing manager, admitted six counts of making false representation from December 2000 to July 2004. He had also told Newham Council he had a bad shoulder and could not work.

Judge Robert Fraser made a confiscation order for £750,000 and said he would be jailed for five years if he does not pay within 12 months. He adjourned sentencing Chowdhury for the benefit fraud until next month but warned “the starting point is a prison sentence”.

Third local authority disputes benefit fraud totals

We saw Swansea and then Owestry put the national total for benefit fraud at £2bn a year - far above the government's figure, which is £1.1bn.

Now Hull (htp Dave) has owned this £2bn figure too. Did you know, they ask, that "as much as £2 billion a year is going into the pockets of people who claim benefits fraudulently"?

In Kingston upon Hull alone, there could be £6.5 million finding its way into the pockets of the greedy.

Housing and council tax benefit fraud in Hull costs the equivalent of £80 per year per household in income tax, they calculate.

A striking figure.

Benefit fraud round-up

Paula Jinman from Gosport has been sentenced to 60 hours of community service and Tracey Howitt, also from Gosport, has been ordered to carry out 40 hours community service. The women have also been ordered to each pay back £4,000 of benefits which they claimed but weren't entitled to. Both pleaded guilty to not telling the council they were working.

In London, Jose Sagrado, who claimed over £1,700 from Newham Council by pretending to be unemployed, must serve a year-long community service order with 200 hours of work and £150 costs. He was convicted of a similar offence last year.

And in Wakfield a five hour vehicle check identified approximately £6,000 of council tax evasion.

But what actually happens to this benefit thief?

Patricia Powell, from Tamworth, has been successfully prosecuted after illegally claiming £24,847 in benefits.

She received a 12 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and an 18 month supervision order, and was instructed to attend an educational and training course at college as well as having to pay back the wrongfully claimed benefits and £100 expenses.

She had received £11,375 Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit from Tamworth Borough Council, £4,202 Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit from Wolverhampton City Council, and £9,270 Income Support.

No guesses as to when we'll get our money back.

Netmums angry at benefit fraud

Follow the discussion here.

Twickenham benefit thief stole £2,500

A Twickenham man has been ordered to pay £600 costs and to carry out 150 hours of community service after falsely claiming £2,500 in benefits in eight weeks.

Richard Walsh claimed the housing and council tax benefit from the council between June and July 2008 because he said he was unemployed. But Richmond Council later found out he had been working afterall.

Mr Walsh failed to attend any meetings with the council's anti-fraud team and did not turn up at court for his hearing. A warrant was issued for his arrest in May and he surrendered himself to the court on October 15, after being told about it when he contacted the council on another issue.

He was found guilty of failing to tell the council his employment status had changed on October 28. He was ordered to carry out the unpaid work, pay the costs and repay all the money his falsely claimed.

No jail for £28k benefit thief

Abdul Latif, from Bamford, has admitted claiming incapacity benefit and income support of almost £28,200 between March 2003 and September 2008, despite having £40,000 savings.

He was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence and a three-month curfew order preventing him from leaving his house between 9pm and 7am.

Sentencing, Judge Charles Mahon said: "You knowingly failed to tell the authorities that you had money set aside well in excess of the permitted amount. I have read your references and people speak well of you and you are well respected in your community."

Mr Latif arrived in the UK aged 17 and soon after set up a clothing firm with his brother. But the company fell into problems when Mr Latif became ill and he had to give it up. In 1997 he began claiming income support and incapacity benefit to care for himself, his wife and their three children. You are not entitled to the benefit if you have more than £16,000 in savings.

When interviewed in 2008, Mr Latif, who has no previous convictions, said he understood the rules and said he 'maybe forgot to declare it.' He has repaid some of the money he stole and has agreed to return the remaining £9,398 in the next few months, which is big of him.

Georgina Coade, defending, said: "He has sought to correct the mistake. He is an active member of his community and his local MP has said he has been very helpful with canvassing during election campaigns."

Light sentences for benefit frauds

When submitting her benefit claims, Pauline Rothwell from Abergele failed to declare that she and her husband owned a second property in Manchester worth over £100,000 and had rented it out for a total of £12,000 ... by way of Housing Benefit from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council.

She was overpaid Income Support, Pension Credit and Council Tax Benefit amounting to £6,601 from July 2003 to February 2007. And the punishment? She was fined £495 and ordered to pay costs of £585.

Jeanette Barrett, from Bromsgrove, failed to give prompt written notification of a change of circumstances, namely that she was working whilst claiming Housing and Council Tax Benefit. This resulted in an overpayment of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, totalling £2,635.

And her punishment? She was sentenced by Redditch Magistrates to a compensation order stating that she needs to repay £1,000 over a two-year period, paying £100 that day, followed by £10 per week, via a fines collection order.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.

Single person discount and data matching - again

I posted last night that continuous data matching will cut benefit fraud.

Today there is a comment is free piece by a Liberty lawyer titled "Data matching: a threat to privacy?"

His piece is in three sections, discussing first data matching and its role in identifying single person discount offenders, then data matching and data mining, and finally the right to respect of privacy.

Most relevant to this blog is his discussion of single person discount fraud in the first part of his discussion:

Section 11 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 provides that the council tax payable for any household will be reduced by 25% if either there is only one person resident there or if there are more than one person resident there but all but one are people who the act says should be disregarded for council tax purposes (including students, people in various types of detention and people defined as "severely mentally impaired"). This 25% discount is commonly referred to as the "single person's discount".

The Audit Commission is a body charged with ensuring that public money is properly used. Its governing statute, the Audit Commission Act 1998, was amended in 2008 to give it the power to conduct data-matching exercises "for the purposes of assisting in the prevention or detection of fraud." "Data matching" is defined in the act as "the comparison of sets of data to determine how far they match (including the identification of any patterns and trends)" (section 32A of the amended act).

The commission can require certain bodies (including councils) to provide information for the purposes of these exercises and can request information from other bodies. The commission is also required to publish a Code of Data-Matching Practice after consultation, among others, with the Information Commissioner. The code was published last July with an introduction from the Information Commissioner. Paragraph 2.1.5 of the Code makes clear that its scope does not extend to what steps the body required to send in data should take to investigate any possible false claims suggested by the results; that is for them to investigate "in accordance with their usual practices for investigation of fraud and error".

In its recent report on local authorities' attempts to fight fraud, Protecting the Public Purse, the commission points out that 35% of households claim the single person's discount [my emphasis] and that in recent years some councils have noticed a sharp increase in the number of households claiming the discount. It reports on its scrutiny of 11 councils that have taken a proactive approach to combating false claims for the discount and records that most of these reported fraud rates of between 4% and 6%. Applying a 4% rate nationally, it estimates that fraudulent claims for the single person's discount may be costing taxpayers £90m each year.

In the light of this it is perhaps unsurprising that false claims for the single person's discount are one of the targets of the Audit Commission's National Fraud Initiative. The commission's website shows that it is again requiring councils to submit their council tax records and electoral rolls so that the two can be matched. Obviously, the commission will be looking for households claiming the discount where more than one adult is registered to vote.

The report [to one council] shows that the council has 16,700 households claiming the single person's discount. The commission's data-matching threw up 939 "mismatches" (as the report refers to them). Of these, the council managed to account for 269 cases from its own records or home visits. It then wrote to 670 households asking them to account for the discrepancy.

By the time the report was written the council was satisfied that the discount was being properly claimed in 516 of the 670 cases. It is not clear whether the remaining cases were ones where the discount was being incorrectly claimed. Assuming all 154 were, this means that less than 1% of those claiming the single person's discount have been identified by the data-matching exercise as claiming a single person's discount that they were not entitled to. This is far less than the 4% to 6% that the commission refers to in its report. However, this is perhaps not surprising. Data-matching council tax records and the electoral register will only throw up those falsely claiming the single person's discount who are foolish enough to then register more than one adult as electors.

It is also worth noting that, if it is the case that the 154 households of the 939 identified by the data-matching exercise were falsely claiming the discount, this gives the data-matching a hit rate of more than 16%.

My view stands: if you claim concessionary state benefits, accept that confidential data matching will go with the territory.

Bridlington benefit thief caught

Shaun Broadbent dishonestly claimed £3,246 in housing and council tax benefit and Job Seekers' Allowance. He and his partner were in employment and Broadbent pleaded guilty to failing to declare a change in circumstances.

Bridlington Magistrates Court sentenced him to a 100-hour community punishment order, and ordered him to pay £400 towards costs. He will also have to repay the benefit he received while claiming fraudulently between February 2008 and October 2008.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.

The tip of the benefit fraud iceberg

We pick up some of the reported cases of benefit fraud. Very little benefit fraud gets prosecuted, and we can't list even all of that.

This report comes from the unlikely source Inside Housing:

Lambeth Council is to take legal action against the former chair of its tenant management organisation, who was convicted of benefit fraud last week.

Patricia Ann Hoad, 60, falsely claimed £40,000 in benefits while working as chair of United Residents Housing. But officers in the council’s fraud investigation team uncovered her bogus claims earlier this year and she was forced to step down.

Last week Ms Hoad received a 16-week suspended jail term from Inner London Crown Court and was ordered to pay back the money she had claimed. She had admitted 10 counts of benefit fraud at an earlier hearing.

The council is now planning to take legal action, in conjunction with the Department for Work and Pensions, to recover the money.

So she goes to court, gets away with a suspended sentence, and only now can the separate recovery proceedings start. From the point of view of a thief admitting her guilt, what's not to like?

This is a hopeless deterrent policy.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose around £3.5bn a year to benefit fraud.

Continuous data matching will cut benefit fraud

In this computer age, why do we still rely on claimants to tell paying agencies what money they are receiving from other parts of government when the data is already on government computers?
 
I asked that here, and North Northwester has provided this thought provoking reply:

Some shared computer facilities do exist - the local authority in my area can access a database that shows Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, some Bereavement benefits,and Working Tax Credits and Child Tax credits, though not the ubiquitous Child Benefit. It makes day-to-day assessment very much easier to do, and fraud and error easier to check...Once decision-makers have a legitimate reason to check.

My deep-cover vole at The Housing says that Local Government administered benefits assessors do have ready access to all this information - if they have a reason to go into the records, such as checking partial information about a change of circumstances received from tenants, council tax payeres, or from other agencies.

What they are NOT allowed to do is to check benefits and tax levels on a regular basis unrelated to incoming information.

Assiduous decision-makers therefore can't set themselves diary dates to check the incomes of serial failure-to-reporter who incur overpayments once or twice or three times per year.

Such a routine would save taxpayers and benefits recipients alike from fraud and error [many overpaid benefits claimants are just hopelessly disorganised or stupid rather than active and knowing embezzlers]. But it is deemed to threaten their privacy by the data protection gurus. The same local authorities that are allowed to put electronic chips in your dustbins to see what you're throwing away preparatory to fines and Green-lectures can't check repeat-offenders' tax credits. This is the most common change of circumstance that is reported to town halls, and is triggered by increased earnings or new children or partners moving into the claimant's home.

So the answer is we rely on them reporting it becasue the State doesn't want the benefits decision-makers to play Big Brother.

Doh.

If this is right, an "independent" (read "unaccountable") official is costing you and me hundreds of millions of pounds a year (benefit fraud runs at £3.5bn annually). It should in principle be easy to write rule based computer programs to throw up warnings when one of a claimant's benefits changes.

Note that this wouldn't require human eyes to be continually inspecting the claimant's records. No one would need to look, until a change triggered a warning. Decision makers wouldn't be playing Big Brother - but our expenditure would be better protected.

This is one step on from more frequent random human reviews - which can only ever examine the benefits of a small fraction of claimants. But it would require initiative from government, so I'm not holding my breath.

A more radical solution would be to follow the line of the recent Duncan Smith report and cut the number of benefits to two, from the current total of around 50. Yes, 50. But until we get there, we need effective policing of the money being paid out.

If you want means tested state benefits, you should have to accept that officials can monitor your records confidentially as they choose. If you don't want benefits officials to be able to look at your benefits data, don't claim the benefits.

Of course that will only make a dent in the problem - though a significant dent. But government should make a strategic choice: slash the number of benefits, or make benefits records subject to continuous rules-based monitoring?

But we recognise that government is about ducking unwelcome choices.

Incapacity benefit funded drug habit

A Bolsover man caught shoplifting told police he needed to steal to fund his growing drug habit, a court heard.

Daniel Russ had been seen acting suspiciously inside the Somerfield store on November 4 by a security camera operator.

Russ was arrested and confessed he had stolen a bottle of whisky to sell on and fund his growing drug habit.

He had previous convictions for similar offences.

The bench gave him an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay £85 costs.

Russ, who received incapacity benefit, had not committed theft for five years before his latest offence.

New blog link added

I've added a new blog link to the sidebar - Benefits Culture, sub-titled life from the margins.

This is not because I agree with everything there. But too often the blogosphere is a dialogue of the deaf, with no conversation between people of different views. It's no good just staying in our boxes.

The blog aims to discuss what life is really like for people who are part of Britain's "benefits culture". Read, ponder, and sometimes disagree :)

Benefit cheat's curfew lifted for trip away

The commenter on the previous post was right - Kelly Westgate has had her six-week curfew lifted just a week later, for a long weekend away.

Villagers have been left fuming by her treatment, claiming it sent out a message that punishments would not be enforced.

But the ruling has been defended, with justice officials explaining the 28-year-old had arranged to take her children to a dance championship prior to her sentencing hearing.

More

htp Dave

Jail for £17k benefit fraud

David Griffiths, from Hixon near Stafford, received just over £10,600 in housing and council tax benefit between August 2006 and December last year by claiming to be the only person living in his home. He also got more than £7,000 in income support.

But he was actually living with a partner.

Cannock Magistrates' Court handed the defendant an eight-week prison sentence, but said it would have been longer if he had not entered an early guilty plea.

Goa death mother on benefit fraud charge

Fiona MacKeown, the mother of a British teenager whose body was found on a beach in Goa, has been charged with falsely claiming £51,401 in income support while failing to declare other income, reports the BBC.

The charge relates to the period February 2005 to March 2008 and includes the time when Ms MacKeown had taken a six-month family holiday with Scarlett to Goa.

She is due before Barnstaple magistrates on 3 December.

Light sentences for Chorley benefit thieves

Darren Bound pleaded guilty to falsely claiming more than £5,000 in benefits.

A Chorley Council investigation officer contacted him about another claimant who was under investigation. Bound let it slip that the claimant was a work colleague ... but he himself was receiving benefits on the basis that he was unemployed.

Although he tried to cover his tracks, a quick call to his employer confirmed that he had been in work for four months. He was fined £195 and ordered to pay £100 costs and £15 victim surcharge. "Steps are being taken to recover the overpaid benefits in full."

With this light sentence South Ribble magistrates are insulting taxpayers.

In a separate case a Croston woman has pleaded guilty to falsely claiming more than £2,500 in housing and council tax benefit. She failed to tell Chorley Council that she was receiving Tax Credits. Council investigators found out about the deception following a benefit data matching exercise.

She was given a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £75 costs.

Another non-punishment.

And in this computer age, why do we still rely on claimants to tell paying agencies what money they are receiving from other parts of government when the data is already on government computers?

We lose £3.5bn in benefit fraud each year. The amounts are huge, the precaution is basic. Yet the government does not put these basic safeguards in place.

"Single" benefit claimant lived with partner

Joanne Andrews, from St Leonards, claimed income support, housing and council tax benefit as a single parent but had failed to tell the relevant authorities that she lived with her partner.

Andrews admitted the charges at Hastings Magistrates Court. The court heard she had claimed £5,506 in benefits.

Magistrates handed down a 12 month community order to the benefit thief which means she will have to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work. She was also ordered to repay the benefit and pay costs of £250.

Magistrates cop out of proper sentence

Wandsworth Council report this case on their site but they should be disappointed by the sentence - and the magistrates' reasoning.

A benefit cheat has been prosecuted for fiddling a housing benefit claim after council fraud investigators discovered she had a bank account with £50,000 sitting in it.

Maxine Dowdie of Barringer Square, Tooting, pleaded guilty to one charge of deception when she appeared at South Western magistrates court on Friday.

The court heard that Ms Dowdie inherited £50,000 in cash following the death of a relative but omitted to tell benefits officials about the windfall.

She carried on claiming benefits and as a result fraudulently obtained £7,269 from the public purse. The deception came to light as a result of information sharing by government agencies.

As a result of her guilty plea and in the light of her paying back virtually all the money she'd swindled from taxpayers, magistrates decided not to impose a custodial sentence or a community based punishment and instead fined her £500 and ordered her to pay £750 towards the council's prosecution costs.

Housing spokesman Cllr Martin D Johnson said: "If people think they can get away with claiming benefits whilst concealing their incomes or savings, then they need to think again.

"Our investigators are actively looking for fraudsters and they have rich sources of information to help them catch those fiddling the system.

"We get lots of calls from friends, neighbours and even relatives who have absolutely no sympathy for benefit scroungers. We also share lots of information with other public bodies, like hospitals, schools and the police, so even though you may have covered your tracks in one area, another organisation will have the information that catches you out.

"Any claim made against the public purse is vigorously checked and double-checked by the council’s benefit investigators and audit team to ensure that taxpayers are not ripped off.

"These checks are carried out long after a claim is first made – often months or even years later to make sure that people claiming help and support from the public purse are still entitled to it.

"People who decide to cheat the benefits system should be under no illusion about what will happen. They will get caught, they will get a criminal record, they will have to pay the money back and they could end up in jail."

Inconsistent sentences at Craigavon

Four people were convicted at Craigavon Magistrates' Court on 9 November for claiming benefits they were not entitled to.

One person was given a £150 fine and ordered to pay £32 court costs for wrongful encashment of Jobseekers Allowance totalling £87.

Another was given a £50 fine and ordered to pay £76 court costs for wrongful encashment of Income Support totalling £145.

A third was given six months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to pay £34 court costs for failing to declare employment while claiming Income Support, Carers Allowance and Housing Benefit totalling £5,600.

And the fourth was given four months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to pay £74 court costs for failing to declare employment while claiming Income Support and Housing Benefit totalling £14,161.

All are also required to repay the money they wrongfully obtained to the Social Security Agency.

Unconditional welfare is morally corrupting

Cradle to grave welfare support inevitably breeds cases like the Smith family. This is not to do with marginal rates of tax, these are not people who want to work if it will pay. They want to live off the working population.

A New Zealand commentator uses the good phrase "learned helplessness".

Just a curfew for £20k benefit thief

Terence Low, an ex-serviceman from Silloth, falsely claimed £20,509 in housing and council tax support over a five-year period by lying about his two pensions. He was sentenced to a four-month curfew order. Yes, that's it.

He failed to declare both an army pension and an occupational pension from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. The army pension was discovered by the National Fraud Initiative in March 2009. Investigations showed it had started in December 1976 and was still being paid into a bank account Low had not declared - so why did the data matching take so long?

Copies of bank statements also showed he was also receiving a second pension from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Data matching hadn't picked this up.

Low agreed to pay the money back at a rate of £200 a month. His curfew order requires him to stay at home seven days a week between the hours of 9pm and 7am.

Benefit thief on anti-depressants

A woman's husband left her after she was exposed as a benefits cheat, a court was told.

Mother-of-two Danielle Lund, from Freckleton, claimed £5,741 in incapacity benefit between June 2007 and July 2008 while working as a care assistant at a rest home.

She was sentenced to do 100 hours' unpaid work for the community and put on 12 months' supervision by Blackpool's magistrates.

More

£69k benefit thief jailed

Robert Webster recidivist benefit thief has now come up for sentence. He was jailed in the 1970s for benefit fraud and imprisoned in 1982 for obtaining property by deception.

He has now been jailed for 51 weeks and ordered to pay back the benefits he fraudulently claimed within two years.

Haulage firm paid benefit cheats in cash

Michael Mann, from Heanor, was wrongly paid benefits of £15,926 while saying he was suffering from depression, anxiety, arthritis and the effects of polio.

He, admitted falsely claiming state benefit up to December 2005. He is already paying it back and must now also meet £400 prosecution costs after appearing at Derby Crown Court, and do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Judge John Burgess told him: "You were cheating everyone, somebody who obtains money that the government at the moment can ill afford and we can ill afford."

But he criticised the prosecution for delays in bringing the case and said that put pressure on Mann, who he told: "I can appreciate this sort of stress. I think four years' delay is a punishment in itself. That is substantial mitigation and I can see how distressed you are."

Laura Hobson, prosecuting, said the case had been delayed because civil servants had been trying to sift evidence from employers who were being "un co-operative". Other benefit claimants had been taken to court for working for the same company.

More

£23k benefit cheat unpunished

A woman who was filmed running the Race for Life despite claiming disability benefits has been given an eight-week jail term suspended for 15 months.

Susan Hutchinson, of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, was paid £23,000 because she was "too weak to work" but was filmed smiling in the three-mile race.

Hutchinson had admitted six fraud and theft charges.

The judge at Cardiff Crown Court said he was suspending the sentence because Hutchinson cares for a disabled son.

More

£22k benefit thief gets off

Helen Gallagher, from Gravesend, who illegally claimed £22,251 between August 2005 and June 2009, has been sentenced to 120 days in jail, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay the money back. And that's it.

She had failed to tell Gravesham Council she was renting her home from the father of her child, which would have disqualified her from receiving housing benefit.

Gallagher was caught after an anonymous tip-off to the council’s benefit cheat hotline.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
  
  Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose around £3.5bn a year to benefit fraud.

Welfare rather than work

You can get more money by staying on benefits rather than taking a low paid job. The basic numbers are here.

Reading warns benefit cheats ...

... but the sentences are pitiful.

Reading Residents who claim benefits must inform the Council of any changes to their circumstances or could face being prosecuted [says Reading Council].

Last Thursday (November 5th) four residents claiming housing and council tax benefit they were not entitled to were prosecuted at Reading magistrates’ court after being taken to court by Reading Borough Council.

It is important that Reading people who receive housing, council tax or other benefits inform the Council if their circumstances change, to make sure they receive the correct benefits.

Lynn Adams of Cumberland Avenue, Reading, was handed a 12-month conditional discharge by magistrates on November 5th, and ordered to pay £100 court costs.

Ms Adams, a single mum of four, had been falsely claiming Council Tax and Housing Benefit since July 2007, receiving payments totaling £3,558.19.

Kossi Singo of Bede Walk, Reading, was fined £120, plus £200 costs after falsely claiming Council Tax benefit while working as a self-employed taxi driver.

It was discovered on a routine check by Reading Council officers, that Mr Singo had applied to the Council to become a licensed taxi driver after submitting a benefit claim.

The £3,643.27 he received in overpaid Reading benefits has now been added to his Council Tax bill.

Abubakar Said of Don Close, Reading was fined £120 on Thursday and instructed to pay £120 in costs after being overpaid £9,107.61 in housing benefit and Council Tax.

Mr Said, who previously claimed his family’s only income was from child tax credit, child benefit and incapacity benefit, had failed to inform the Reading Council he was receiving additional income from a student loan after enrolling on a course at Thames Valley University.

And Mohamed Nazar of Radstock Road, Reading, was fined £200 plus £250 costs after claiming £1,831.17 in job seekers’ allowance from the Department of Work and Pensions and £418 in Council Tax benefits from Reading Borough Council.

Arrangements will be made between the residents and Council to recover the overpayment of benefit.

Jo Lovelock, Leader of Reading Borough Council, said: "The Council takes matters of benefit fraud extremely seriously. I hope these sentences serve as a reminder to residents its vital they let the Council know of any change of circumstance.

"Its only fair on the vast majority of council tax payers who do act responsibly that we follow up and take action against false claimants."

People who are caught cheating the benefits system can be fined up to £5,000 and be given a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment or both (in magistrates’ court).

If the case if referred to Crown Court, the penalties are more severe, where the maximum penalty is an unlimited fine or up to seven years imprisonment or both.

The Council should be disappointed by these trivial sentences. They are as light as they could possibly be.

Reading magistrates are condoning benefit fraud. These thieves have not been punished.

Tamworth benefit thief stole £9k

Martin Brookes failed to notify authorities of capital he already had which led to him receiving over payments in his Housing and Council Tax Benefits and Income Support, totalling some £9,381. He was sentenced to an 80 hour community order with £100 costs.

He has repaid the over payment in full.

£20k benefit theft unpunished

Yvonne Gray, 28, from Aberdeen, who wrongfully claimed £19,751 in benefits over five years. could spend more than 80 years paying the money back.

The court heard she was paying the sum back at a rate of £20 a month, which would take her almost 82 years to pay in full. She has made four repayments so far.

She had previously admitted failing to tell the DWP that her circumstances had changed and she was living with her partner.

Sheriff Colin Harris ordered Gray to continue making the payments and deferred sentence for 12 months for her to be of good behaviour.

htp Dave

Councillor wants tougher laws on benefit fraud

AN Emonton man has received 100 hours of community work after fraudulently claiming more than £6,500 in housing and council tax benefits.

Ekrem Polat was wrongly claiming benefits after his Jobseeker's Allowance ended. He was even chasing up cheques knowing his allowance had ended.

Mr Polat was sentenced after pleading guilty to a 12-month community order. He will undertake 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £475 costs over the next 16 months.

Enfield Councillor Ertan Hurer said a tougher approach from the Government on benefit cheats is needed:

There is going to be even more pressure on public finances, which will make it even more important that we ensure precious resources are not wasted on those who cheat on benefits.

I think we will need to get tougher laws on benefit cheats to send a clear signal out there to protect tax payers’ hard earned money and those in genuine need.

htp Dave

Slow progress against benefit thief

Andrew Hayes, from Droylsden, failed to notify Tameside Council and the DWP that he was working, trading on web auction site ebay buying and selling car parts.

As a result he falsely claimed £10,838 in housing benefit, £2,100 in council tax benefit and £3,912 in jobseekers allowance between November 2005 and June 2008.

He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and given a six-month curfew between the hours of 6pm and 6am. He must also carry out 300 hours' unpaid work.

Tameside Council and the DWP will take steps to recover all of the overpaid monies.

• These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose around £3.5bn a year to benefit fraud.

Benefit fraud alleged in case of Irish republican

The Serious Organised Crime Agency has frozen the assets of a leading republican in South Armagh, reports the BBC.

It has been granted a court order to take control of properties and bank accounts belonging to Sean Gerard Hughes of Aghadavoyle Road, Drumintee.

The agency claimed the assets came from laundering the proceeds of mortgage fraud, tax evasion and benefit fraud.

In 2002, Mr Hughes was named in parliament as a member of the IRA's Army Council, an allegation he denied. More about him

Benefit thief jailed at last

A millionaire benefit cheat who blamed the recession for failing to pay back his ill-gotten gains has been jailed for three years.

Phillip Kole-Emmanuel, from Wembley, ignored a court order that he should cough up £452,416 despite having £1.2 million in assets.

The 46-year-old had received a nine-month old jail sentence which was suspended for two years after he admitted three counts of benefit fraud at his trial at St Albans Crown Court in February 2007.

The court heard Kole-Emmanuel accumulated his wealth by conning council chiefs in Brent, The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Hertsmere Borough Council into paying him hundreds and thousands of pounds in housing and Council Tax benefits.

A confiscation hearing in February last year ordered him to pay back the six-figure sum by October 9 but Kole-Emmanuel claimed his assets were tied up in properties and he was unable to sell them due to the downturn in the economy.

htp Dave

Anything can be sold at a price. And why was the original sentence suspended?

Is Labour soft on benefit dependency?

The Mail has these tables from the Tories showing how welfare dependency is markedly higher in Labour seats than in others.

Of course the Tories cry foul and say that's why Labour is soft on benefits. No we're not, say Labour, we're toughening up. They say the tables just show how the Conservatives fail to connect with poorer people.

What we can say is that "over 3,000" fraud investigators can't hope to police 5.8m working age claimants effectively. And too often sentences passed on those who do get caught are minimal.

So the policy is ineffective. They know that. That's why they spend our money on advertisements saying how effective the policy is.

Why we need deterrent sentences for benefit fraud

Often in this blog we stress the need for sentences that will deter. Why?

Detailed enforcement is impossible - because of the numbers involved. There were 5.8m working age benefit claimants at February 2009.

The number of working age claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and incapacity benefits totalled 2.60m. 736,000 people were claiming lone parent benefit.

In the year to February there were 422,000 new claims to working age incapacity benefits, and 549,000 new claims for Income Support.

The DWP's boast is that they have over 3,000 fraud investigators. How could they hope to police these millions of claims? They can't, of course.

With these huge numbers it's highly likely that most benefit fraud goes undetected. So deterrent sentences are essential.

These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.

Benefit thieves should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.

If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.

Data matching snares benefit thief

Janice Wilson, from West Drayton, who told 'barefaced lies' to fraudulently claim £117,000 in benefits has been jailed for eight months.

Despite claiming benefits for herself and her four children, she had a full time job at Heathrow Airport as a detainee custody manager. She failed to disclose this information to Hillingdon Council and the DWP when making claims for benefits.

The DWP received a data match stating Ms Wilson was working, and conducted a joint investigation with Hillingdon Council.

The total losses through fraudulent claims were:

Housing Benefit £51,783.69

Council Tax Benefit £5,687.89

Income Support £60,183.23

Fines & high costs for disabled blue badge fraud

A woman caught using her late father’s disability badge to get free parking has been forced to pay £900 at Enfield Magistrates Court. Helene West, of North Finchley, was taken to court by Enfield Council for using her deceased father's badge which expired in 2005. She was fined £435 and ordered to pay £445 in costs plus a victim surcharge of £15.

Ian Hoy, from Enfield, was fined £290 and ordered to pay costs of £445 and a £15 victim surcharge for altering his badge to make it appear though it was valid even though it had run out in August 2008.

Anastacia Kyriacou, from Edmonton, was fined £66 and ordered to pay costs of £100 and a £15 victim surcharge for using her mother's badge when she was not present.

The council has prosecuted five other people for blue badge fraud since the beginning of September. Enfield’s cabinet member for environment, Terry Neville said:

As far as I am concerned blue badge cheats are like cuckoos who go into other birds’ nests. They are stealing the rightful parking spaces for those in genuine need.

Benefit thief gave himself up

A man who inherited £41,000 from his brother carried on claiming means-tested benefits for more than three years. John Spoors told officials several times he had only a few hundred pounds in savings, Durham Crown Court heard.

"It is accepted the initial claim was genuine," said Susan Hirst, prosecuting. "That was for income support in 1998. Mr Spoors went on to claim housing benefit and council tax benefit." But the claims continued even after he inherited about £41,000 from his brother in 2004. The total over payment of benefits was £37,300.

Paul Cauilfield, defending, said: "Mr Spoors took it upon himself to sort out his finances and went to the Citizens Advice Bureau for help.

"They told him to contact the department and it is to his credit that he did so.

"All the money has since been repaid and he is hopeful of getting a job which will enable him to come off benefits altogether."

Judge John Evans jailed Spoors for 26 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of community work.

Benefit fraud rises

The DWP has released updated figures for losses due to benefit fraud and error. The official tale is that £3bn was overpaid through fraud and error in the year to March 2009. Within this total, the government figure for benefit fraud is up - not that you'd know it from the publicity - from some £860m to £1.1bn.

The latest fraud numbers are on our website. We maintain our view that the total for benefit fraud alone will be about £3.5bn. The government estimate for customer and official error is £1.9bn - expect it to be on the low side.

We're probably looking at a total of £6bn plus a year.

Poppy collector was benefit thief

In February we told of Bernard McCartin, the former mayor of Horwich, who received a trivial punishment for benefit fraud of £18,000. Read his shame here.

Now he's got himself back in the news. The local news reports that "a poppy-selling veteran was thrown out of a supermarket after customers complained because they recognised him as a convicted benefits cheat". And indeed it is Mr McCartin.

On Tuesday, he set up his stall in Asda, Middlebrook, to sell poppies for the Royal British Legion’s annual remembrance appeal, as he has done for the past four years. He and his wife had been sitting at the table for about two hours when a member of staff, accompanied by a security guard, approached him.

The shameless Mr McCartin clearly thinks they were in the wrong: “One of the managers said ‘We’ve had a few complaints about your past and we’re going to have to ask you to leave’.

“I didn’t argue with them. I just packed up and left. I couldn’t get out quick enough because I nearly lost my rag. I was absolutely gobsmacked.”

Asda said the store received six complaints about Mr McCartin in the first 40 minutes he was there.

Asked about those who complained, he said: “I think they’re petty-minded.”

He says of his benefit cheat conviction: “It’s all over with. It’s finished. Done. Forgotten.” When a politician says it's time to move on, be sure it is not.

He may have a background collecting for the Legion, but people are entitled to protest when they invited to give money to a convicted thief - and an apparently unrepentant one at that.

Mr McCartin had arranged to collect at Asda every day this week, and he was there all day Monday without any problems. He has already filled about 30 tins this year, all of which are sealed. He said: “I’ve got paperwork for all the tins. Every penny is accounted for.”

Asda were diplomatic. A spokesman said: “Because of Mr McCartin’s conviction earlier in the year, a number of customers expressed concerns about him when they saw him collecting in store. We asked him to leave while we investigated.”

The RBL is arranging for another collector at Asda.

htp Dave

Light sentence for £28k benefit fraud

A benefit cheat made a grave mistake conning taxpayers out of £28,782 between April 2001 and August 2008 by claiming he was too ill to work – while he had a job as a pall bearer.

Vincent Storey, from Sunderland, worked at a funeral directors and topped-up his earnings by fraudulently claiming £327 in incapacity benefits every month.

He had legitimately claimed benefits when he initially stopped working, but then got a job as a driver and pall bearer at a funeral directors while continuing to claim state handouts.

The judge sentenced him to 16 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours' unpaid work and repay the money he had fraudulently claimed. Storey told the court he would be able to make the payments, but would have to remortgage his home to stump up some of the cash.

DWP bosses today said they hoped the sentence served as a warning to other benefit cheats who consider stealing from society, adding that all cash falsely claimed will always have to be paid back in full.

• Not good enough. These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.
  
  Theresa May, please note. Taxpayers lose around £3.5bn a year to benefit fraud.

Jail for £36k benefit fraud

Shannon Matthews' so called aunt, Amanda Hyett, has been jailed for a year after admitting benefit fraud amounting to £35,885.

£4k benefit thief absconded

Kerry Loxham, formerly from Fenstanton, received a 12-month community order at Huntingdon Magistrates' Court last week, and was required to complete 120 hours of unpaid work, on two charges of benefit fraud between January and November 2008.

The court heard that Loxham, who now lives in Yorkshire, made a legitimate claim for benefit in 2007 when she declared that she was an unemployed lone parent. In late 2008 she reported to the council that she had started work for a local bakery, but declared the work only from the end of October 2008.

Suspicion arose about the date, and an investigation revealed that she had started work in January 2008. She had been overpaid £3,994 in housing and Council Tax benefits.

The magistrates were reminded that Loxham had been due to attend court in June this year, but failed to attend a number of hearings. The matter was eventually heard in her absence and she was found guilty based on the evidence presented to the court. An arrest warrant for her attendance to be sentenced was issued, but not served until September because she had left her property in Fenstanton, without telling the authorities, to move to Yorkshire.

Michelle Cheatle, for Loxham, said her client deeply regretted her actions and accepted that she had been at fault. She also accepted that she should have reported leaving the Fenstanton address, but did not because of personal issues. Miss Cheatle added that, if her client had attended court as required, she would have pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

In addition to the community order, Loxham was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £640. She will also have to repay all the benefits overpaid.

It is estimated that benefit fraud costs Huntingdonshire District Council over £500,000 every year.

Trivial punishment for repeat benefit thief

Parminder Singh, formerly of Lauderdale Crescent, Longsight, claimed £9,062 in Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Income Support and Jobseeker Allowance.

Singh fraudulently obtaining the cash from Manchester council and the DWP between February 2000 and May 2001, after failing to disclose she was living with, and subsequently married, her partner.

She also pleaded guilty to further offences, between September 2006 and April 2008, after failing to declare that she lived with her husband and owned a number of properties with him.

Singh was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, by Manchester magistrates, and a three month curfew order. She must pay £150 in court costs.

Manchester women fined for blue badge fraud

Jennifer Moore was found guilty of the fraud charge in her absence after she failed to turn up to a hearing at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Wednesday October 28. She was fined £525 with £392 costs along with a £15 victims of crime surcharge.

A member of Manchester City Council's blue badge team spotted the badge, displayed on the dashboard of Moore's Vauxhall, parked on Harter Street in May. They examined the badge, discovering it had been issued to her father and expired at the end of 2003.

Meanwhile, Sandra Monahan, from Openshaw, pleaded guilty to fraudulent use of a blue badge.
She was fined £270 with £150 costs and a £15 victim of crime surcharge.

A City Council officer spotted the badge displayed on the dashboard of Monahan's Ford, as it was parked on Charlotte Street in April, and discovered it had been issued to her father William, who died several years ago. Monahan later admitted she had altered the badge's expiry date.

Benefit thieves sentenced

Mohammed Aslam and Afshan Ishaq have been sentenced.

The judge sentenced Mohammed Aslam to 27 months jail. In addition he will have to pay a £31,477 confiscation order or face a further year behind bars, and contribute £10,000 towards prosecution costs.

Dealing with Ishaq, the Judge said he could suspend the six month prison sentence he was imposing because, amongst other things, she had two children and it was clear her co-defendant "instigated" the fraud. But she would also have to pay £500 towards prosecution costs and carry out 100 hours unpaid work.

Housing benefit fraud figure unbelievable

As the Express points out, housing benefit cost over £17bn last year. It's high in the benefit spending league table. Risible government numbers put housing benefit fraud at £210m. That's a mere 1.2% of the total housing benefit paid out but it's a quarter of all the benefit fraud which they're prepared to admit to. So if you believed the government's figures, this would be a very important benefit to scrutinise.

Tory research has identified Hackney as the borough with the highest proportion of housing benefit dependence – nearly 42%. Elsewhere in London, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Haringey and Islington had over a third of households on housing benefit. Outside the capital, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Middlesbrough and South Tyneside also saw high levels of claims.

On average, says the paper, about 18% of British households depend on housing benefit. Two-thirds of the claims are made by people of working age. And it's a benefit worth having, with an average payment of £81.03 a week, compared to the £64.30 Jobseeker’s Allowance. Some workless households receive five and six-figure sums, far more than the mortgage payments of many middle-income families. Nearly two-thirds of council tenants get all their rent paid by the taxpayer.

The Express concludes that

The massive handout – often to households where no one has a job – costs hard-working middle-income families £10billion a year, or £476 a year for every privately-owned home in Britain.

Now you'd think that this expensive benefit would be a major target for anti-fraud measures.

In fact Labour changed the system so that the benefit is paid to the tenant rather than the landlord. Result: some tenants don't pass it on. London - which has some of the biggest concentrations of housing benefit - also experiences considerable social housing fraud. But government hasn't implemented recommendations to change the law so as to facilitate repossessions and prosecutions. So it's still hard for councils to operate in this area.

And in Lambeth, use of voice recognition software suggested over 18% of claimants were benefit cheats. While the government's national figure for housing benefit fraud is £190m (a mere 1.2%), at 18% this would be £2.85bn for housing benefit fraud alone!

Government policy seems to be: don't rock the boat. It could throw up some inconvenient numbers, don't you know.

Light sentences for benefit fraud in Norwich

Amil Naim, from West Earlham, was given a conditional discharge for scamming £9,931 in benefits, and Sara-Jane Maidens, 40, of Arnold Miller way, Trowse, was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work after claiming £10,850.

Naim pleaded guilty to nine charges over a five-year period - five of false representation, two of failing to disclose capital in excess of the allowed limits, one of obtaining money by deception and one of failing to notify of a change in circumstances.

But after hearing evidence from Naim's support worker about his lack of memory and failure to understand why he was in court Recorder Mark Dennis, said he was left with no option but to give him a conditional discharge because of his poor mental and physical health, as he was not suitable to serve a custodial term.

Maidens, who had pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to notify the DWP that she had started working more hours over a two-year period, was spared jail because of her commitments to her 18-year-old autistic son, who she visits in his sheltered accommodation every day, and her 16-year-old son, who lives with her.

Mitigating, Michael Clare said her commitment to repay the money demonstrated her good character, and said that although she was only paying the money back at a rate of £4 per week, this was because she had such limited means.

Sentencing her, Mr Dennis said: “Benefit fraud is a serious matter which crosses the custody threshold, and you committed fraud and dishonestly took more than £10,000 from the country.
But given the circumstances, I am going to give you credit for your guilty pleas and previous good character and I acknowledge the efforts you have made to pay the money back, albeit an absurdly small amount.”

htp Dave

£53k benefit thief jailed

A PUB landlady who claimed about £53,000 in benefits while running a popular local bar has been jailed for 12 months.

For almost a decade Lindsey Pearce was paid income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit while earning a wage as the licensee of The Fad Hotel in South Shields.

She started claiming income support in 1990, followed by housing and council tax benefits in 1999, on the basis she was a single parent with no other income. But she was employed from August 1999 to at least April 2008. This would have extinguished all right to benefits she was claiming.

htp Dave

Light sentence for Belfast benefit fraud

A 53-year-old Belfast woman who suffers from polio has been given a suspended jail term after admitting to a charge of benefit fraud worth £28,500.

Kathleen Montgomery, who claimed the money in income support over a five year period from 2002, didn't tell the Department of Health and Social Services that she part-owned a house in North Dublin valued at the equivalent of £250,000.

Belfast Crown Court was told that she had left her husband to return to live in Belfast and didn't declare her share in the Ballymun property in Dublin when making her benefits claim in the north.

A defence lawyer said Montgomery was currently living on handouts from her family.

Judge Corinne Philpott was told by a Crown lawyer that the authorities believed Montgomery also had assets in the north of Ireland and a confiscation order had been served to recover the money, which had been claimed fraudulently.

Judge Philpott imposed a two year jail sentence, which would be suspended for two years.

htp Dave

A bad lot

A Hull woman who let an international paedophile ring abuse her children has been jailed for 15 months for fraudulently claiming £25,843 in child benefit after her children were taken from her by social services in 2001.

There's more about the background here if you want it. The DWP says it has been deducting money from her benefits to recoup the money she owes.

(The paper disabled comments on their article "for legal reasons" so you can't comment on this post either.)

Governments to blame for welfare dependency

This blog concentrates on benefit fraud. A commenter recently accused it of being fixated on one subject. Well, there's plenty of benefit fraud about - at least £3.5bn a year with much more under the surface.

Now Fraser Nelson summarises some wider problems of the benefits system, saying that

The biggest evil in Britain today is welfare dependency.

He points to welfare ghettoes, where crime is high and life expectancy low. We pay nearly half a million people under 35 to stay at home on incapacity benefit while we swell our population with immigrants to do the jobs they won't. He returns to the point powerfully made recently by Ian Duncan Smith that marginal rates of withdrawal can simply make going into work unattractive.

Consider a young bloke on the dole. Right now he gets £96 a week via Jobseekers, housing benefit and what have you.

Say he goes to work in a shop for five hours a week at six quid an hour. His income rises to just £101. Why? Because while he earns £30, he loses £25 of benefits. So he’s working five hours for just five quid.

Say he doubles his shift to TEN hours. Then his income stays at £101 because he loses the Jobseekers’ Allowance.

And if he TREBLES his hours to 15 hours a week, he loses even more benefits and takes home £106 a week.

Do we need to spell it out further? This means his “work pays” an effective rate of 66p an hour.

What idiot would do that? Not me. I’d stay at home with the JSA and Sky Plus. So, I suspect, would Yvette Cooper.

People making this rational decision aren't 'scroungers'. The failure's not with them, it's with government. It's their responsibility to get this right. No recent government - Labour or Conservative - has.

The UK welfare system has 51 different payments, explained by 14 manuals over 8,900 pages.

The complexity has created a net in which millions of British people are now trapped. Freeing them takes effort.

That's a huge failure of governments.

Costing taxpayers money

Sharon Allison, from Bridlington, pretended to live alone with her three children and claimed £45,000 over three years while her partner Andrew Parker was an £8,000-a-year laboratory technician at Bridlington School. She was in fact living with Mr Parker.

The DWP was unable to give a revised figure for the amount she could have claimed legally because it was too complicated to work out. They estimated loss to the taxpayer was £19,000, but her defence barrister said it was more like £10,000.

Miss Allison had initially denied any wrongdoing. She pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to notify a change of circumstances for income support and housing benefit between 2003 and 2006. She also pleaded guilty to a charge of making a false statement on October 6, 2005, that she was not living with a partner.

Miss Allison's barrister Anil Murray told the court Andrew Parker was not her partner any more and she was now expecting a baby by another man. "This lady has had very difficult times with partners in the past," said Mr Murray. One previous partner had kicked her, left her without money and spent it on cars while another was an alcoholic and abusive. He said it all that made it much harder for her to commit to a relationship with Andrew Parker, which was why he only lived at the house for three days at a time at first.

Judge Roger Thorn said he was prepared to take a lenient view, having borne in mind the delay in proceedings, her pregnancy and the net loss to the public purse was less than first calculated.

Mr Thorn ordered she should be given a four-month suspended prison sentence, but because she was pregnant did not have to do unpaid work, but would be given a 12-month supervision order.

The hidden benefit fraud iceberg

An officer in the benefits system writes

I work in benefits and even if I refuse to pay a claim they just appeal and then get it paid, the whole culture is to pay claims as quickly as possible however outlandish - cab drivers only earn £80 p.w. apparently, most self-employed people are on around £50 p.w.; lots of couples just have the husband working 16 hrs p.w. at minimum wage (so maximum tax credits); plus all the "single" parents, alcoholics, druggies, etc.

For instance, the officer says, Romanian nationals can only work in this country if they have permission, normally only given for seasonal work. But they have found a loophole - if you are self-employed you can come and work here.

So they simply say they are selling The Big Issue and that's considered self-employment. They pay no income tax or national insurance but are entitled to Child Benefit, Child Tax Credits, Working Tax Credits, Housing and Council Tax Benefit.

It's all perfectly legal but its a loophole that should be closed. It just illustrate the 'pay now, check later' of the Inland Revenue when paying Tax Credits, they pay for non-existent children and so are not going to look too closely at the 'earnings' of the self employed.

So, the officer's conclusion is that the fraudsters who get prosecuted are just the tip of the iceberg.

Bear in mind that publicly available information indicates benefit fraud at around £3.5bn annually.

In reality, it seems we may be looking at a far higher total.