Dawn Hardwick claimed housing and council tax benefit from Brighton and Hove City Council for a flat in Hove. But council officers became suspicious when she made a new claim last year and an investigation revealed she was not living at the flat and had falsified a letter from a landlord to make the application.
Hardwick received £12,095 she was not entitled to.
She was sentenced to eight weeks in prison suspended for a year by Brighton Magistrates after admitting eight offences of benefit fraud between 2007 and 2009. She was also ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work in the community and pay £960 costs.
30 Jan 2010
No punishment for £6k benefit fraud
Trafford Council reports that Lisa Hughes has been convicted of dishonestly obtaining Income Support, Housing and Council Tax benefit adding up to £6,805. The overpayments were made in the short period between August 2008 and November 2008.
She was sentenced at Trafford Magistrates Court to a two year Conditional Discharge and ordered to pay costs of £100. She will also be expected to pay back all the money which she falsely claimed, we're told.
Executive Councillor John Tolhurst said:"Benefit fraud will not be tolerated in Trafford and the Council will not hesitate to take action against those who commit this type of crime. I urge residents to report anyone who they suspect is committing benefit to report it."
Indeed, benefit fraud will only be tolerated in Trafford by the magistrates.
She was sentenced at Trafford Magistrates Court to a two year Conditional Discharge and ordered to pay costs of £100. She will also be expected to pay back all the money which she falsely claimed, we're told.
Executive Councillor John Tolhurst said:"Benefit fraud will not be tolerated in Trafford and the Council will not hesitate to take action against those who commit this type of crime. I urge residents to report anyone who they suspect is committing benefit to report it."
Indeed, benefit fraud will only be tolerated in Trafford by the magistrates.
29 Jan 2010
Not benefit fraud, but ...
This woman (reported on last November) isn't committing any benefit fraud as far as we know. But her case illustrates the logical absurdity of our benefit system. She keeps having children, so we shell out £50,000 a year.
A mother expecting her 14th child has vowed to keep having children until she has twins. Sara Foss, 39, already picks up £50,000 in benefits every year.
She said: 'All I've ever wanted is twins or triplets. It's my biggest wish, and I'm going to keep trying until I do it. It would be fantastic. In fact, I won't stop trying until I've done it. I love having babies - it's the most wonderful thing in the world.'
Read more
htp Dave
A mother expecting her 14th child has vowed to keep having children until she has twins. Sara Foss, 39, already picks up £50,000 in benefits every year.
She said: 'All I've ever wanted is twins or triplets. It's my biggest wish, and I'm going to keep trying until I do it. It would be fantastic. In fact, I won't stop trying until I've done it. I love having babies - it's the most wonderful thing in the world.'
Read more
htp Dave
Farah Damji sentenced
A notorious socialite once dubbed 'London's most dangerous woman' has been jailed for 15 months for a £17,500 housing benefit fraud, reports the Daily Mail.
Farah Damji, 43, daughter of multi-millionaire property tycoon Amir Damji, created a web of deceit by defrauding landlords and claiming public benefits.
The writer forged documents, pretended she was someone else and made bogus claims to landlords and the local council, the court heard.
'The level of dishonesty at every conceivable juncture is so persistent it's the type of case I have never come across before,' said Judge Aidan Marron QC at Blackfriars Crown Court.
'This was a scheme dripping with dishonesty at every conceivable corner. She was not entitled to a penny on the information provided.'
Judge Marron said Damji claimed she was penniless and that her children lived with her, but she also claimed she was wealthy when applying for tenancies and sought to sub-let one property for profit.
'You manipulated bank accounts so money came to you instead of your landlord and when your dishonesty was exposed you responded with more dishonesty and threats,' the judge added.
At an earlier hearing, Judge Marron outlined the prosecution's case, saying that the defendant orchestrated a planned fraud on landlords and then claimed benefits.
The court heard Damji told landlords she was the £96,000-a-year creative director of fashion company Moksa and owned a £3m Chelsea home with a non-existent husband who was a £100,000-a-week property developer.
Damji pleaded guilty to dishonestly making false representations to landlords Alex and Alix Lentjes in relation to a property in Shepherd's Bush and to landlord Benjamin Hutton, owner of a property in Hammersmith, on or before October 3, last year.
She also admitted three counts of dishonestly making false representations to Hammersmith and Fulham Council in relation to both addresses, forging a Halifax Bank statement she gave letting agents 'Lets's Do Business' and falsely representing Mr Lentjes as the holder of a specific account that benefits were deposited in.
Confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act are scheduled for June 14.
Prosecutor Miss Karen Robinson told the court that Damji received £17,500 in housing and council tax benefit.
The socialite left landlord Mr Lentjes £7,685 out of pocket and with a damaged flat following the defendant's eviction on October 3, last year.
Before moving into the £350-a-week Shepherd's Bush property, Damji claimed she was married, leaving the landlord 'with the impression a couple were moving in and were in a position to pay for the flat,' said Miss Robinson.
Rent was paid in a variety of ways and from a variety of sources, while some cheques bounced, the court heard.
Damji even advertised the flat for £400-a-week on website Gumtree, behind her landlord's back.
A similar fraud was hatched for the flat in Hammersmith, but police arrested Damji on October 27 before the landlord suffered any loss.
In both cases Damji's wealthy father funded the deposit payments.
Damji is currently involved in Family Court proceedings for custody of her son, 12, and daughter, eight, who have been brought up by their grandparents in South Africa and are heirs to a huge trust fund.
Her lawyer Giles Newell told the court: 'She was trying to get something better than she was entitled to.
'She accepts what she did was wrong and takes full responsibility for her offending and does intend to pay this money back. This was not a sophisticated, well-planned fraud.
'The aim was to provide for her family,' added the lawyer. 'It was a heartfelt attempt to find a suitable home for her two young children.'
Ugandan-born mother-of-two Damji, from Westminster, claimed in her book Try Me that her infamous criminal exploits were behind her.
The book was actually launched last year, less than 24 hours before yet another appearance in the dock.
Damji edited lifestyle magazine Another Generation, wrote for the Observer and New Statesman, was a Birmingham Post columnist and previously ran art galleries in Manhattan and East Hampton, New York.
She earned her notorious description as 'London's most dangerous woman' in an Evening Standard feature.
Damji once absconded from Surrey's Downsview Prison where she was serving a three-year sentence for a £50,000 credit card fraud and became Britain's first on-the-run blogger.
The mother-of-two also posed as a Daily Mail assistant in order to have rings worth more than £10,000 delivered to her.
The controversial socialite first came to public attention when alleged claims of her affairs with a Guardian newspaper executive and writer William Dalrymple became public.
The Telegraph also covers the hearing.
htp anon
Farah Damji, 43, daughter of multi-millionaire property tycoon Amir Damji, created a web of deceit by defrauding landlords and claiming public benefits.
The writer forged documents, pretended she was someone else and made bogus claims to landlords and the local council, the court heard.
'The level of dishonesty at every conceivable juncture is so persistent it's the type of case I have never come across before,' said Judge Aidan Marron QC at Blackfriars Crown Court.
'This was a scheme dripping with dishonesty at every conceivable corner. She was not entitled to a penny on the information provided.'
Judge Marron said Damji claimed she was penniless and that her children lived with her, but she also claimed she was wealthy when applying for tenancies and sought to sub-let one property for profit.
'You manipulated bank accounts so money came to you instead of your landlord and when your dishonesty was exposed you responded with more dishonesty and threats,' the judge added.
At an earlier hearing, Judge Marron outlined the prosecution's case, saying that the defendant orchestrated a planned fraud on landlords and then claimed benefits.
The court heard Damji told landlords she was the £96,000-a-year creative director of fashion company Moksa and owned a £3m Chelsea home with a non-existent husband who was a £100,000-a-week property developer.
Damji pleaded guilty to dishonestly making false representations to landlords Alex and Alix Lentjes in relation to a property in Shepherd's Bush and to landlord Benjamin Hutton, owner of a property in Hammersmith, on or before October 3, last year.
She also admitted three counts of dishonestly making false representations to Hammersmith and Fulham Council in relation to both addresses, forging a Halifax Bank statement she gave letting agents 'Lets's Do Business' and falsely representing Mr Lentjes as the holder of a specific account that benefits were deposited in.
Confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act are scheduled for June 14.
Prosecutor Miss Karen Robinson told the court that Damji received £17,500 in housing and council tax benefit.
The socialite left landlord Mr Lentjes £7,685 out of pocket and with a damaged flat following the defendant's eviction on October 3, last year.
Before moving into the £350-a-week Shepherd's Bush property, Damji claimed she was married, leaving the landlord 'with the impression a couple were moving in and were in a position to pay for the flat,' said Miss Robinson.
Rent was paid in a variety of ways and from a variety of sources, while some cheques bounced, the court heard.
Damji even advertised the flat for £400-a-week on website Gumtree, behind her landlord's back.
A similar fraud was hatched for the flat in Hammersmith, but police arrested Damji on October 27 before the landlord suffered any loss.
In both cases Damji's wealthy father funded the deposit payments.
Damji is currently involved in Family Court proceedings for custody of her son, 12, and daughter, eight, who have been brought up by their grandparents in South Africa and are heirs to a huge trust fund.
Her lawyer Giles Newell told the court: 'She was trying to get something better than she was entitled to.
'She accepts what she did was wrong and takes full responsibility for her offending and does intend to pay this money back. This was not a sophisticated, well-planned fraud.
'The aim was to provide for her family,' added the lawyer. 'It was a heartfelt attempt to find a suitable home for her two young children.'
Ugandan-born mother-of-two Damji, from Westminster, claimed in her book Try Me that her infamous criminal exploits were behind her.
The book was actually launched last year, less than 24 hours before yet another appearance in the dock.
Damji edited lifestyle magazine Another Generation, wrote for the Observer and New Statesman, was a Birmingham Post columnist and previously ran art galleries in Manhattan and East Hampton, New York.
She earned her notorious description as 'London's most dangerous woman' in an Evening Standard feature.
Damji once absconded from Surrey's Downsview Prison where she was serving a three-year sentence for a £50,000 credit card fraud and became Britain's first on-the-run blogger.
The mother-of-two also posed as a Daily Mail assistant in order to have rings worth more than £10,000 delivered to her.
The controversial socialite first came to public attention when alleged claims of her affairs with a Guardian newspaper executive and writer William Dalrymple became public.
The Telegraph also covers the hearing.
htp anon
£18k tax credit fraudster escapes jail
A benefits cheat who fraudulently claimed £18,000 in tax credits has avoided a prison sentence after agreeing to pay the money back.
Omotoyosi Lanipekun received child tax credit and working tax credit after she told benefits officials that she was a single mother on limited income. But she was living with her husband in the upmarket Murieston area of Livingston where they were making £2,000 per month each running a profitable IT consultancy business.
Now she must hand over £52,194 to HMRC after a further investigation under the proceeds of crime act found a huge chunk of unaccounted for income and expenditure.
Lanipekun had paid back £8286.62 so far and had six months to pay back the rest that was owed. She pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining child tax credit and working tax credit.
The amount due had been revised down.
Her solicitor said the mother-of-two had initially made the claim in good faith.
“She was left by her husband and had two young children and was left in a position of some destitution and was helped by the tax credits that she claimed.
“The difficulty is that she allowed the claim to run unamended. She accepts there was a change in circumstances to which she didn’t alert the authorities to. She has no previous convictions and nothing outstanding.
“She is a deeply religious woman and has taken advice from her pastor on this matter which was a crime, but from her point of view also a sin which she takes very seriously.”
Sentencing Lanipekun to 160 hours of community service Sheriff Alan Millar said: “Clearly this situation was a financial debt to society which has to be collected through proceeds of crime proceedings.
“I am pleased to hear that it has progressed to the stage of agreement. Of course there is also a debt of trust to society and it is a serious matter for this reason.
“However, I think it is a case I can deal with by means of a community disposal.”
Omotoyosi Lanipekun received child tax credit and working tax credit after she told benefits officials that she was a single mother on limited income. But she was living with her husband in the upmarket Murieston area of Livingston where they were making £2,000 per month each running a profitable IT consultancy business.
Now she must hand over £52,194 to HMRC after a further investigation under the proceeds of crime act found a huge chunk of unaccounted for income and expenditure.
Lanipekun had paid back £8286.62 so far and had six months to pay back the rest that was owed. She pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining child tax credit and working tax credit.
The amount due had been revised down.
Her solicitor said the mother-of-two had initially made the claim in good faith.
“She was left by her husband and had two young children and was left in a position of some destitution and was helped by the tax credits that she claimed.
“The difficulty is that she allowed the claim to run unamended. She accepts there was a change in circumstances to which she didn’t alert the authorities to. She has no previous convictions and nothing outstanding.
“She is a deeply religious woman and has taken advice from her pastor on this matter which was a crime, but from her point of view also a sin which she takes very seriously.”
Sentencing Lanipekun to 160 hours of community service Sheriff Alan Millar said: “Clearly this situation was a financial debt to society which has to be collected through proceeds of crime proceedings.
“I am pleased to hear that it has progressed to the stage of agreement. Of course there is also a debt of trust to society and it is a serious matter for this reason.
“However, I think it is a case I can deal with by means of a community disposal.”
Benefit frauds identified in Northampton action day
A one day exercise in Northampton targeted at rogue traders stopped 71 vehicles and showed an underbelly of illegality.
Half of the vehicles stopped were flagged up as "possibly" (whatever that means) not having a current road tax disc.
One person was arrested for assaults and one vehicle was seized for road tax offences, Trading Standards officers issued 21 notices to traders relating to trading legislation and Benefit Fraud Investigation officers identified four people claiming benefits incorrectly.
Two fixed penalty notices were issued for seatbelt offences and one penalty notice was issued to a driver for using a mobile phone. Three drivers were reported for driving licence offences.
Half of the vehicles stopped were flagged up as "possibly" (whatever that means) not having a current road tax disc.
One person was arrested for assaults and one vehicle was seized for road tax offences, Trading Standards officers issued 21 notices to traders relating to trading legislation and Benefit Fraud Investigation officers identified four people claiming benefits incorrectly.
Two fixed penalty notices were issued for seatbelt offences and one penalty notice was issued to a driver for using a mobile phone. Three drivers were reported for driving licence offences.
Croydon reports fraud numbers but no context
In the nine months to December, Croydon has reported identifying fraud of £1.3m, over twice the cost of running the fraud unit for a full year. Some £320,000 wasn't related to benefit fraud, and was mainly related to renovation and empty property grants.
We can see how fraud cases hitting the media are only the tip of the iceberg. There were six administration penalties, and as many as 55 cautions were offered, but successful prosecutions totalled 18.
They report identified overpayments and savings: housing benefir £414k, JSA & IS £436k, and council tax benefit £69k.
On single person benefit the team "has undertaken to examine the two thousand highest risk cases that are also in receipt of housing benefit". So far the single person discount has been removed from 48 people.
What we're not told, though, is how these relate to the council's totals. But the report's worth a read.
We can see how fraud cases hitting the media are only the tip of the iceberg. There were six administration penalties, and as many as 55 cautions were offered, but successful prosecutions totalled 18.
They report identified overpayments and savings: housing benefir £414k, JSA & IS £436k, and council tax benefit £69k.
On single person benefit the team "has undertaken to examine the two thousand highest risk cases that are also in receipt of housing benefit". So far the single person discount has been removed from 48 people.
What we're not told, though, is how these relate to the council's totals. But the report's worth a read.
£6k benefit thief sentenced
Between April 2008 and February 2009 Marilyn Braidwood, from Chapel-en-le-Frith, falsely claimed housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support totalling £6,371 after failing to reveal that her husband had returned to live with her.
Representing herself in court, Braidwood said: "My teenage daughter went off the rails a bit and we decided it would be a good idea if my husband came back to the family home."
Magistrates gave her a six month community order with a four month curfew between the hours of 7pm and 7am.
She must also pay costs of £400. No order was made for compensation as Braidwood has already started paying the money back.
Representing herself in court, Braidwood said: "My teenage daughter went off the rails a bit and we decided it would be a good idea if my husband came back to the family home."
Magistrates gave her a six month community order with a four month curfew between the hours of 7pm and 7am.
She must also pay costs of £400. No order was made for compensation as Braidwood has already started paying the money back.
£34k+ benefit thief sentenced
Tracy Roberts, from Chickenley, claimed over £34,000 in income support and housing and council tax benefits despite earning up to £600 a week working for debt collectors. She even went along to focus interviews set up to help her get back into work.
She started receiving benefits while unemployed but carried on claiming after returning to work in 1993. The DWP said the charges only dated back to April 2002 because Roberts' employer had no earlier records. DWP payment records from 2003 onwards showed an overpayment of £34,630.
The prosecution said Roberts did not declare her job in claim forms or regular reviews. She also claimed to have been out of work for 14 years at the first of five focus interviews in April 2007: "It was a commission basis that she was working on. She at times would receive nothing each week, other times £600 a week but on average it was about £200."
After the fraud was discovered Roberts told DWP investigators she thought she had to work more hours before declaring a job but later accepted it had been wrong to keep claiming.
The judge said that her children needed a lot of support and Roberts was now the main carer for her 30-year-old son, who was being treated for a brain tumour. The court heard she had paid back over £1,800.
Sentencing Roberts to 16 weeks suspended for a year, Judge Batty said: "You have to know, and others have to know, that when you defraud the benefits agencies out of this amount of money the courts view it very seriously."
He said he accepted the claim was not fraudulent from the start and had taken into account her guilty plea and circumstances. She was also given a 12-month supervision order with 150 hours unpaid work.
She started receiving benefits while unemployed but carried on claiming after returning to work in 1993. The DWP said the charges only dated back to April 2002 because Roberts' employer had no earlier records. DWP payment records from 2003 onwards showed an overpayment of £34,630.
The prosecution said Roberts did not declare her job in claim forms or regular reviews. She also claimed to have been out of work for 14 years at the first of five focus interviews in April 2007: "It was a commission basis that she was working on. She at times would receive nothing each week, other times £600 a week but on average it was about £200."
After the fraud was discovered Roberts told DWP investigators she thought she had to work more hours before declaring a job but later accepted it had been wrong to keep claiming.
The judge said that her children needed a lot of support and Roberts was now the main carer for her 30-year-old son, who was being treated for a brain tumour. The court heard she had paid back over £1,800.
Sentencing Roberts to 16 weeks suspended for a year, Judge Batty said: "You have to know, and others have to know, that when you defraud the benefits agencies out of this amount of money the courts view it very seriously."
He said he accepted the claim was not fraudulent from the start and had taken into account her guilty plea and circumstances. She was also given a 12-month supervision order with 150 hours unpaid work.
28 Jan 2010
Suspended sentence for £9k benefit fraud
Michael Payet, from Oakham, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday last week.
His offences involved more than £9,000 in total for dishonestly making fraudulent claims for housing and council tax benefit between 2001 and 2007. They came to light following information that Payet was working and claiming benefits.
At the court hearing Payet was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for six months. So no real punishment now then.
His offences involved more than £9,000 in total for dishonestly making fraudulent claims for housing and council tax benefit between 2001 and 2007. They came to light following information that Payet was working and claiming benefits.
At the court hearing Payet was sentenced to six months imprisonment, suspended for six months. So no real punishment now then.
Former social care worker suspended
A former youth offending service case manager has been suspended for two years after being found guilty of misconduct.
Michael Wrenn, employed by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council between December 2004 and October 2006, had previously pleaded guilty in court to 16 counts of fraudulently claiming Access to Work benefits.
A meeting of the General Social Care Council's conduct committee ruled that Wrenn had committed misconduct through failing to uphold public trust and confidence in social care services.
The committee opted to suspend Wrenn for two years - the maximum period available.
Access to Work is a government scheme run by the DWP that helps those whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. Wrenn claimed the payments for travel to and from work.
Before being suspended, Wrenn had already been made subject to a £4,365 confiscation order, given a two-year conditional discharge, and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £500 following the court case.
Michael Wrenn, employed by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council between December 2004 and October 2006, had previously pleaded guilty in court to 16 counts of fraudulently claiming Access to Work benefits.
A meeting of the General Social Care Council's conduct committee ruled that Wrenn had committed misconduct through failing to uphold public trust and confidence in social care services.
The committee opted to suspend Wrenn for two years - the maximum period available.
Access to Work is a government scheme run by the DWP that helps those whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. Wrenn claimed the payments for travel to and from work.
Before being suspended, Wrenn had already been made subject to a £4,365 confiscation order, given a two-year conditional discharge, and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £500 following the court case.
Small sentence for £7k fraud
Mark White, of Great Horwood High Street, has been given 40 hours community service for benefit fraud.
Mr White had failed to declare to Aylesbury Vale District Council that he had been in employment, and obtained £7,244 housing benefit, £543.01 council tax benefit and £46.50 income support to which he was not entitled.
He was ordered to pay back the overpayments and £100 court costs.
Mr White had failed to declare to Aylesbury Vale District Council that he had been in employment, and obtained £7,244 housing benefit, £543.01 council tax benefit and £46.50 income support to which he was not entitled.
He was ordered to pay back the overpayments and £100 court costs.
Lewes blue badge action day
A joint day of action took place on 21 January tackling abuse of blue badges, unlicensed drivers, untaxed and non-insured vehicles, and other issues where people fail to respect Lewes, say East Sussex County Council.
119 blue badges were inspected, and of those two will be receiving warning letters about correct use of the badge, and a further 20 are being investigated by the Blue Badge team. Three badges were seized for being misused.
Other interesting aspects of the day's exercise are outside the scope of this blog.
There are approximately 30,000 blue badges in the county. The badges cost the applicant £2. The cost of producing a blue badge is around £24 and fraudulent badges have been known to sell for up to £2,000.
Three action days were recently conducted in Hastings and Eastbourne, which were "very successful" and well received by the public on the day.
119 blue badges were inspected, and of those two will be receiving warning letters about correct use of the badge, and a further 20 are being investigated by the Blue Badge team. Three badges were seized for being misused.
Other interesting aspects of the day's exercise are outside the scope of this blog.
There are approximately 30,000 blue badges in the county. The badges cost the applicant £2. The cost of producing a blue badge is around £24 and fraudulent badges have been known to sell for up to £2,000.
Three action days were recently conducted in Hastings and Eastbourne, which were "very successful" and well received by the public on the day.
Belated blue badge prosecutions in Manchester
Ayaz Adam has pleaded guilty to blue badge fraud. A Manchester City Council officer spotted the blue badge displayed on the dashboard of Adam's silver Honda parked in a pay and display bay on Mount Street in Manchester city centre last April. (What took so long?) As well as a 60 hour community punishment order, he was ordered to pay £100 costs.
At first, he claimed the badge holder was at home in Blackburn, but he later admitted that the holder - his brother - had died.
Kaamini Popatkar was fined £525 with £450.07 costs when she was found guilty in her absence of blue badge misuse. A City Council officer spotted a blue badge displayed on the dashboard of Popatkar's Nissan, parked on Dickenson Street in the city centre last September. She told them the badge belonged to her daughter, who was at a birthday party in China Town.
However, staff at her daughter's school later confirmed the girl had been there all day and had not left. Relatives or carers of disabled people are only entitled to use blue badges when they pick up and drop off the badge holder.
Victoria Macmillan was fined £350 with £150 costs and a £15 victims of crime surcharge after pleading guilty to blue badge misuse. Her Vauxhall was spotted displaying a blue badge when it was parked in a pay and display bay on Jackson's Row last June. Macmillan, a recruitment consultant, told the City Council officer the badge belonged to her fiancé's grandmother. However, when the officer pointed out that her vehicle had been seen the previous day displaying the same badge, she admitted using it without the badge holder being present.
At first, he claimed the badge holder was at home in Blackburn, but he later admitted that the holder - his brother - had died.
Kaamini Popatkar was fined £525 with £450.07 costs when she was found guilty in her absence of blue badge misuse. A City Council officer spotted a blue badge displayed on the dashboard of Popatkar's Nissan, parked on Dickenson Street in the city centre last September. She told them the badge belonged to her daughter, who was at a birthday party in China Town.
However, staff at her daughter's school later confirmed the girl had been there all day and had not left. Relatives or carers of disabled people are only entitled to use blue badges when they pick up and drop off the badge holder.
Victoria Macmillan was fined £350 with £150 costs and a £15 victims of crime surcharge after pleading guilty to blue badge misuse. Her Vauxhall was spotted displaying a blue badge when it was parked in a pay and display bay on Jackson's Row last June. Macmillan, a recruitment consultant, told the City Council officer the badge belonged to her fiancé's grandmother. However, when the officer pointed out that her vehicle had been seen the previous day displaying the same badge, she admitted using it without the badge holder being present.
Caravan thieves did benefit theft too
Most of the benefit frauds we feature here are domestic crimes by individuals. If benefit fraud is so easy that these "amateurs" can get away with it for years, it is bound to attract professional criminals too - something we rarely hear about.
Thus members of a gang convicted of stealing caravans and other vehicles worth more than £1m have also pleaded guilty to benefit fraud.
More
Thus members of a gang convicted of stealing caravans and other vehicles worth more than £1m have also pleaded guilty to benefit fraud.
More
27 Jan 2010
Small punishment for benefit thief
Kate Hampson, from St Helens, who duped the authorities out of more than £1,105, has been warned about her future behaviour after pleading guilty to two counts of benefit fraud.
She failed to declare that she had started work, meaning she was paid £840.45 in Housing Benefit and £265.05 in Council Tax Benefit.
She was given a two year conditional discharge and must pay back the full £1105.50 and £280 costs.
She failed to declare that she had started work, meaning she was paid £840.45 in Housing Benefit and £265.05 in Council Tax Benefit.
She was given a two year conditional discharge and must pay back the full £1105.50 and £280 costs.
Long term benefit thief caught by chance
Charles Charlton, from Kirkby, has admitted defrauding Ashfield District Council of £7,145 by failing to declare income from a private pension while claiming benefits which had paid his rent and Council Tax since 2002.
Council bosses say Charlton's claim for benefit had been running continuously for several years before December 2008 — when a council official visited his home to conduct a benefit review. During the visit, Charlton said he had been receiving a private pension, but did not elaborate.
The council's fraud investigations team made a request for the pension details and when Charlton was interviewed he said he understood that all income was relevant to his benefit. But he had made dishonest representations on six occasions on benefit claim forms and review forms where he was asked to declare all of his income.
He was ordered to repay the money and given a 12 month community punishment order.
Council bosses say Charlton's claim for benefit had been running continuously for several years before December 2008 — when a council official visited his home to conduct a benefit review. During the visit, Charlton said he had been receiving a private pension, but did not elaborate.
The council's fraud investigations team made a request for the pension details and when Charlton was interviewed he said he understood that all income was relevant to his benefit. But he had made dishonest representations on six occasions on benefit claim forms and review forms where he was asked to declare all of his income.
He was ordered to repay the money and given a 12 month community punishment order.
- Ashfield's Fraud Investigations Team has identified fraudulent claims totalling more than £224,000 so far this financial year.
DWP worker's partner was benefit thief
Clive Russell, from Lancing, who fraudulently claimed £17,679 between April 2007 and June 2009, has been ordered to do 120 hours of community service and banned from going out in the evening.
Russell owned up to lying on his claim forms and not telling the council he was living with a partner. During investigation council officers discovered that his partner, a DWP employee, had told her bosses that she had moved in with Russell in 2006.
Russell owned up to lying on his claim forms and not telling the council he was living with a partner. During investigation council officers discovered that his partner, a DWP employee, had told her bosses that she had moved in with Russell in 2006.
Prison for £50k benefit thief
A former University of Nottingham financial administrator has been jailed for falsely claiming at least £53,815 in benefits over nine years.
Denise Dobbs, from Long Eaton, earned more than £20,000 a year but was also receiving income support, housing and council tax benefits. She was jailed at Derby Crown Court for 10 months.
The court heard Dobbs began legitimately claiming benefits in 1995 but failed to report changes in her circumstances over the years. She began working at the University of Nottingham in 2006.
Judge Andrew Hamilton told her this was not a case of somebody on the poverty line, but deliberate dishonesty over nine years, which he described as "absolutely disgraceful".
Denise Dobbs, from Long Eaton, earned more than £20,000 a year but was also receiving income support, housing and council tax benefits. She was jailed at Derby Crown Court for 10 months.
The court heard Dobbs began legitimately claiming benefits in 1995 but failed to report changes in her circumstances over the years. She began working at the University of Nottingham in 2006.
Judge Andrew Hamilton told her this was not a case of somebody on the poverty line, but deliberate dishonesty over nine years, which he described as "absolutely disgraceful".
No jail for £28k benefit fraud
Michelle N'Jie, from Prudhoe, married in November 2004 but failed to notify the authorities and continued to claim and receive the benefits of a single parent until October 2007.
This went undetected for nealy three years.
She pocketed income support, housing and council tax benefits totalling over £28,000, despite living with her husband Solomon N'Jie and having two children together.
She was sentenced by Newcastle Crown Court to a 12-month community order and 250 hours of unpaid work.
This went undetected for nealy three years.
She pocketed income support, housing and council tax benefits totalling over £28,000, despite living with her husband Solomon N'Jie and having two children together.
She was sentenced by Newcastle Crown Court to a 12-month community order and 250 hours of unpaid work.
26 Jan 2010
Cadet officer was benefit thief
Nigel Lloyd, a company sergeant major with the Shropshire Army Cadet Force from Welshpool, has admitted dishonestly making false representations regarding housing and incapacity benefits. In total he dishonestly claimed more than £6,000 in benefits, despite also claiming expenses and training fees from his volunteer work with the cadets.
The investigation took two years. On his benefit forms, he had claimed he could not stand for more than 30 minutes or walk more than 400 yards without feeling severe discomfort. Lloyd said the issue had been an oversight on his behalf, and that he accepted he should have declared he was receiving an income from his work.
The defence said that he lived off a £100 per week war pension, and now refused to claim any of the benefits he would be legally entitled to because of the trouble caused by this case.
Magistrates sentenced him to a 12-month community order, to include 12 months supervision. He was also ordered to pay the money back, as well as £75 prosecution costs.
The investigation took two years. On his benefit forms, he had claimed he could not stand for more than 30 minutes or walk more than 400 yards without feeling severe discomfort. Lloyd said the issue had been an oversight on his behalf, and that he accepted he should have declared he was receiving an income from his work.
The defence said that he lived off a £100 per week war pension, and now refused to claim any of the benefits he would be legally entitled to because of the trouble caused by this case.
Magistrates sentenced him to a 12-month community order, to include 12 months supervision. He was also ordered to pay the money back, as well as £75 prosecution costs.
- The paper starts its report by noting that he "has escaped a prison sentence" - but under the present sentencing régime there was never any prospect of jail.
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. Some local authorities think benefit fraud costs each household £80-£100 a year. It's probably at least £150-£175.
Children, so no prison, says Judge
Mother of two Francesca Russell conned the taxpayer out of £7,114 by falsely claiming she was a single mother living alone in Buckhurst Hill. In fact she shared the home with her husband.
But despite Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC telling her “I really ought to send you to prison”, she was given an eight months suspended jail sentence for her benefit fraud because of concerns that her children are dependent on her. She was also given 150 hours community service and was ordered to pay the money back.
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But despite Judge Anthony Goldstaub QC telling her “I really ought to send you to prison”, she was given an eight months suspended jail sentence for her benefit fraud because of concerns that her children are dependent on her. She was also given 150 hours community service and was ordered to pay the money back.
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Hackney Council belatedly hits blue badge fraud
Hackney Council has brought its first prosecutions against Blue Badge fraudsters found abusing the borough's disabled parking scheme.
A special anti-fraud team to crack down on people abusing the Blue Badge disabled parking scheme was established last July, and now three people have pleaded guilty to charges of misusing Blue Badges.
Elaine Folivi pleaded guilty to three charges of misuse of a Blue Badge and received a conditional discharge of 12 months as well as being ordered to pay costs of £504.
Anna Luckhurst also pleaded guilty to three charges of Blue Badge misuse and was given a 12-month conditional discharge and costs of £504 to pay.
Peter Smith pleaded guilty to using a photocopied Blue Badge and was fined £120 plus £15 surcharge and costs of £336.
Cllr Alan Laing, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods,
An estimated 200 badges are stolen from vehicles every year and there are as many as 1,000 instances of Blue Badge misuse occurring in London daily. Before 2005, 60 per cent of car break-ins in Hackney were to steal Blue Badges, but since the council introduced Companion Badges which are specific to one vehicle, the figure has reduced dramatically.
A special anti-fraud team to crack down on people abusing the Blue Badge disabled parking scheme was established last July, and now three people have pleaded guilty to charges of misusing Blue Badges.
Elaine Folivi pleaded guilty to three charges of misuse of a Blue Badge and received a conditional discharge of 12 months as well as being ordered to pay costs of £504.
Anna Luckhurst also pleaded guilty to three charges of Blue Badge misuse and was given a 12-month conditional discharge and costs of £504 to pay.
Peter Smith pleaded guilty to using a photocopied Blue Badge and was fined £120 plus £15 surcharge and costs of £336.
Cllr Alan Laing, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods,
An estimated 200 badges are stolen from vehicles every year and there are as many as 1,000 instances of Blue Badge misuse occurring in London daily. Before 2005, 60 per cent of car break-ins in Hackney were to steal Blue Badges, but since the council introduced Companion Badges which are specific to one vehicle, the figure has reduced dramatically.
No jail for £88k benefit fraud parents
Melanie Comerford and her husband Raymond Barton, both from Malpas, falsely claimed £88,502 in benefits between 1999 and 2007, including £65,027 worth of income support, £21,183 in housing benefits and £2,292 in council tax benefits.
Judge Dafydd Lloyd Hughes sentenced the couple to 52 weeks in prison, suspended for two years. He said this was because they had previous good character and was concerned about the couple’s two teenage children, particularly their son who has diabetes and epilepsy.
The couple got into difficulties after Barton ran up a debt of £50,000 through credit cards and loans when the couple split up. They separated after the first eight months of their marriage and Barton left the family home and began a relationship with another woman.
The couple reunited in May 2003 and wanted to buy a house and pay off Barton’s debts. This ambition to buy a house fuelled their benefit claims. They stayed together and now live together in privately rented accommodation after their house was eventually repossessed.
Comerford filled in a number of forms over those years stating she was single and a lone parent despite her being married to Barton since May 1997. On a form in October 2006, Comerford said she was living in a property belonging to Barton, who she said was her cousin, and Barton signed the form agreeing to this.
So far they have paid back just £1,500. The DWP said after the hearing the couple will now have to pay all of the money back - at a rate which is yet to be agreed.
Comerford has type one diabetes and suffers from chronic asthma. Barton has Crohn's disease and recently had a left knee replacement which he has never recovered from.
The couple were ordered to each follow a supervision requirement for 12 months and to do a future skills programme. They were also ordered to each pay £300 towards prosecution costs at a rate of £5 a week.
A hard case, but punishment is still necessary.
Judge Dafydd Lloyd Hughes sentenced the couple to 52 weeks in prison, suspended for two years. He said this was because they had previous good character and was concerned about the couple’s two teenage children, particularly their son who has diabetes and epilepsy.
The couple got into difficulties after Barton ran up a debt of £50,000 through credit cards and loans when the couple split up. They separated after the first eight months of their marriage and Barton left the family home and began a relationship with another woman.
The couple reunited in May 2003 and wanted to buy a house and pay off Barton’s debts. This ambition to buy a house fuelled their benefit claims. They stayed together and now live together in privately rented accommodation after their house was eventually repossessed.
Comerford filled in a number of forms over those years stating she was single and a lone parent despite her being married to Barton since May 1997. On a form in October 2006, Comerford said she was living in a property belonging to Barton, who she said was her cousin, and Barton signed the form agreeing to this.
So far they have paid back just £1,500. The DWP said after the hearing the couple will now have to pay all of the money back - at a rate which is yet to be agreed.
Comerford has type one diabetes and suffers from chronic asthma. Barton has Crohn's disease and recently had a left knee replacement which he has never recovered from.
The couple were ordered to each follow a supervision requirement for 12 months and to do a future skills programme. They were also ordered to each pay £300 towards prosecution costs at a rate of £5 a week.
A hard case, but punishment is still necessary.
Data matching exposes benefit fraud
Paul Chapleo, from Timperley, has been ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work in the community and pay £150 costs after pleading guilty to benefit fraud amounting to £4,523, report Trafford Council.
Council Counter Fraud Officers were alerted to the matter as a result of a data matching exercise which matches records held by the DWP and other Government agencies. This uncovered the fact that Mr Chapleo had gained employment as a Refrigeration Engineer but continued to claim benefits that he was no longer entitled to.
Council Counter Fraud Officers were alerted to the matter as a result of a data matching exercise which matches records held by the DWP and other Government agencies. This uncovered the fact that Mr Chapleo had gained employment as a Refrigeration Engineer but continued to claim benefits that he was no longer entitled to.
No prison for £22k benefit thief
Teesside's top judge said his hands were tied as he spared prison for a £22,098 benefit fraudster.
Dean Timney, from Middlesborough, was one of eight drivers caught doing casual work cash in hand for North East Truck and Vans Limited. He spent more than five years flitting between incapacity benefit and job seeker’s allowance claims while working.
Two of the other employees were sentenced at Teesside Crown Court before Timney appeared to learn his fate. Neither was sent to prison. One gained more than £44,000 over six years and the other about £30,000. Both were given suspended jail terms.
Timney was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years with 250 hours unpaid work for the community.
He had been working since March 2000 and started claiming incapacity benefit due to ill health in 2002. When his deceit came to light and his benefits were stopped, he rang up the benefits office to find out why!
Now working full-time for a company which spoke highly of him in a reference, he is paying back the money.
Robert Mochrie, defending Timney, who had no relevant previous convictions, said: “Mr Timney is a man who seems to genuinely regret his actions. He was stuck in a rut, as he puts it. Because he was claiming benefits but the work offered to him was not regular, he had a difficult decision to make. He made the wrong decision. If he had ceased claiming benefit he might have been left with the insecurity of the temporary work.”
Dean Timney, from Middlesborough, was one of eight drivers caught doing casual work cash in hand for North East Truck and Vans Limited. He spent more than five years flitting between incapacity benefit and job seeker’s allowance claims while working.
Two of the other employees were sentenced at Teesside Crown Court before Timney appeared to learn his fate. Neither was sent to prison. One gained more than £44,000 over six years and the other about £30,000. Both were given suspended jail terms.
Timney was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years with 250 hours unpaid work for the community.
He had been working since March 2000 and started claiming incapacity benefit due to ill health in 2002. When his deceit came to light and his benefits were stopped, he rang up the benefits office to find out why!
Now working full-time for a company which spoke highly of him in a reference, he is paying back the money.
Robert Mochrie, defending Timney, who had no relevant previous convictions, said: “Mr Timney is a man who seems to genuinely regret his actions. He was stuck in a rut, as he puts it. Because he was claiming benefits but the work offered to him was not regular, he had a difficult decision to make. He made the wrong decision. If he had ceased claiming benefit he might have been left with the insecurity of the temporary work.”
Pension fraud was undetected for four years
Allan Cruickshank, from Portland, has admitted dishonestly obtaining £9,558 of pension credit. The prosecution asked for a further 212 similar matters to be taken into consideration.
He was not entitled to claim pension credit because he was already receiving an occupational pension from the Armed Forces - remarkably this went undiscovered for four years.
The defence said that Cruickshank informed the DWP that he was also receiving an Army pension and was told this did not affect his application for incapacity benefit. He was then advised to move from the benefit to pension credit in 2004 and wrongly assumed that his Army pension would not affect his working pension credit claim. He then became aware that the Army pension would affect this and by then he had been claiming for a while and he decided to continue not to declare this in the hope he would get away with it.
Magistrates gave him a 12-month community order during which he must complete 200 hours of unpaid work.The DWP is making its own arrangements to recover the money.
So much for data matching then. Government databases don't communicate. They owe it to taxpayers and to claimants to plug this big loophole.
He was not entitled to claim pension credit because he was already receiving an occupational pension from the Armed Forces - remarkably this went undiscovered for four years.
The defence said that Cruickshank informed the DWP that he was also receiving an Army pension and was told this did not affect his application for incapacity benefit. He was then advised to move from the benefit to pension credit in 2004 and wrongly assumed that his Army pension would not affect his working pension credit claim. He then became aware that the Army pension would affect this and by then he had been claiming for a while and he decided to continue not to declare this in the hope he would get away with it.
Magistrates gave him a 12-month community order during which he must complete 200 hours of unpaid work.The DWP is making its own arrangements to recover the money.
So much for data matching then. Government databases don't communicate. They owe it to taxpayers and to claimants to plug this big loophole.
Benefit fraud went undetected for four years
Jayne Scanlan, from Anerley, has pleaded guilty to defrauding Bromley Council of £15,261 of housing and council tax benefits between August 2005 and August 2009.
Scanlan failed to declare her partner and son were working and living at the address and also a bank account with undeclared income in it.
She was given "a 12 month community order" (any work involved?) and a four month dusk to dawn curfew, with £125 costs.
That doesn't sound much.
Scanlan failed to declare her partner and son were working and living at the address and also a bank account with undeclared income in it.
She was given "a 12 month community order" (any work involved?) and a four month dusk to dawn curfew, with £125 costs.
That doesn't sound much.
Conditional discharge for benefit thief
A former Bridlington resident has been given a conditional discharge after fraudulently claiming £4,511 in housing benefit.
Carol Walker had been claiming £105.98 per week benefit for the property and continued to claim the money even after she had moved in June 2008.
She received a two-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £562.98 towards costs.
She will also have to repay the £4,511.72 she fraudulently claimed.
Carol Walker had been claiming £105.98 per week benefit for the property and continued to claim the money even after she had moved in June 2008.
She received a two-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £562.98 towards costs.
She will also have to repay the £4,511.72 she fraudulently claimed.
Benefit thief pensioner may face jail
A Dundee pensioner who defrauded the benefits system over two decades has been warned he could face a jail term. Angus Hepburn admitted frauds totalling more than £36,000.
He is due to be sentenced in February. More
htp Dave
He is due to be sentenced in February. More
htp Dave
Benefit thief unpunished
A father-of-four from Chorley claimed more than £4,500 in benefits despite running his own business, a court has heard.
Paul Cutajar pleaded guilty to falsely claiming housing benefit and council tax benefit on the basis that he had no income. But he had failed to report that he had obtained work between February and April 2006, and he had set up his own design business in November 2006.
Mr Cutajar, who represented himself at the hearing, apologised to the court and to the council's investigation officer.
He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 costs. Steps are now being taken to recover the overpayment in full.
Paul Cutajar pleaded guilty to falsely claiming housing benefit and council tax benefit on the basis that he had no income. But he had failed to report that he had obtained work between February and April 2006, and he had set up his own design business in November 2006.
Mr Cutajar, who represented himself at the hearing, apologised to the court and to the council's investigation officer.
He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 costs. Steps are now being taken to recover the overpayment in full.
State failing in its duty to claimants
A benefit cheat who claimed more than £860 in housing allowances has been ordered to carry out community service.
Kevin Richardson, from Isleworth, was found guilty of defrauding Hounslow Council. He failed to notify the council that his jobseeker's allowance had ended, meaning he was no longer automatically entitled to housing benefit, magistrates were told.
Richardson was found guilty in his absence after he failed to arrive at court twice last year.
He appeared at Feltham Magistrates' Court, after being given a chance to take legal advice, and was ordered to complete 120 hours of community work, pay £500 costs and to repay the benefits.
Kevin Richardson, from Isleworth, was found guilty of defrauding Hounslow Council. He failed to notify the council that his jobseeker's allowance had ended, meaning he was no longer automatically entitled to housing benefit, magistrates were told.
Richardson was found guilty in his absence after he failed to arrive at court twice last year.
He appeared at Feltham Magistrates' Court, after being given a chance to take legal advice, and was ordered to complete 120 hours of community work, pay £500 costs and to repay the benefits.
- This blog isn't usually sympathetic to benefit thieves, but in this computer age it's morally wrong for the state to put this temptation in claimants' way. Computers have been able to send messages to each other for decades and it is the duty of the state to help people claiming money to keep within the (complex) rules.
25 Jan 2010
A benefits system insider writes ...
Every private hire cab driver I've dealt with states they earn around £100 p.w for 30 hours; private hire has to be booked through the cab company for the insurance to be valid, so there is a record of how many hours and jobs they have done, but we don't ask to see it (nor do the Inland Revenue), so we are naively relying on their honesty. If I don't pay them they just appeal.On this basis our conservative figure of £3.5bn a year for benefit fraud alone is the tip of the iceberg. And that figure is serious enough for the public finances - and for public morals.
The other scam is the 16 hours rule, the minimum need for maximum tax credits. So everyone who works in a takeaway, restaurant, corner shop all work 16 or 18 hours on minimum wage; I'm not allowed to ask "why do you only work part-time when you have a family to support" so they get away with it.
Take a worker in a takeaway with a family. He works 18 hours for £110 per week but when you add up tax credits, child benefit, housing and council tax benefit he gets nearly £27,000 a year. Doesn't pay a penny in income tax or national insurance, all his rent and council tax is paid. It would probably be cheaper to pay his JSA (or around the same amount) but then he would add to the unemployment figures.
Romanians can't claim out of work benefits so they say they are self-employed and can claim tax credits and housing benefit. Their "self-employment" is selling The Big Issue. More and more of them are doing this.
The Welfare State is no longer fit for purpose.
24 Jan 2010
Data matching brings jail for benefit thief
Jacqueline South, who defrauded Lewisham Council out of £30,120 over an 18-month period, has been sentenced to eight months in prison.
Her deception was uncovered as part of a regular data-matching exercise carried out by the council. It checks details of benefit claimants against payroll details of large organisations or those claiming student loans.
South’s national insurance number and date of birth details matched that of someone called Jacqui South, who was working as a telephonist at the time.
Her deception was uncovered as part of a regular data-matching exercise carried out by the council. It checks details of benefit claimants against payroll details of large organisations or those claiming student loans.
South’s national insurance number and date of birth details matched that of someone called Jacqui South, who was working as a telephonist at the time.
23 Jan 2010
Benefit Thieves
"How I Caught Them and Why I Took The Risks That I Did" is the title of a planned book by "a former special investigator".
You can read about the book on his benefit thieves website and browse a few chapters.
You can read about the book on his benefit thieves website and browse a few chapters.
22 Jan 2010
Jail for £80k benefit frauds
A "devious, calculating" mother-of-three fraudulently claimed £80,750 comprised of income support, child benefit and housing and council tax payments, despite living outside the UK, Havering council said.
Devi Luckhee was jailed for 15 months at Basildon Crown Court after being caught claiming the cash while living in Paris.
She falsely claimed benefits at two homes in Romford and others in Redbridge, and Barking and Dagenham between 2003 and 2009.
When she was arrested police found she had several forged tenancy agreements and a diary detailing trips to and from France.
Mrs Luckhee worked for three-and-a-half months at a restaurant in Romford while claiming support and her ex-husband Jayant Ramchurn earned money at Hovis for 14 months in 2005, the local authority said. She also received benefits worth 400 to 700 euros per month in Paris, where she lived in a council house.
Devi Luckhee was jailed for 15 months at Basildon Crown Court after being caught claiming the cash while living in Paris.
She falsely claimed benefits at two homes in Romford and others in Redbridge, and Barking and Dagenham between 2003 and 2009.
When she was arrested police found she had several forged tenancy agreements and a diary detailing trips to and from France.
Mrs Luckhee worked for three-and-a-half months at a restaurant in Romford while claiming support and her ex-husband Jayant Ramchurn earned money at Hovis for 14 months in 2005, the local authority said. She also received benefits worth 400 to 700 euros per month in Paris, where she lived in a council house.
Suspended sentence for £10k benefit fraud
This is Sara Stirling, who claimed £9,939 in disability benefits while managing both a college course and a boat-building business, but said she had made "an 'honest mistake". The money has been repaid.
She had applied for Severe Disablement Allowance in August 2000 because of arthritis, despite being 'the brains' behind Working Sail, a small yacht-building firm she ran with her husband. And in 2003 she was headhunted by Falmouth Marine School to write and manage a new Level 3 boat-building course – but did not inform the DWP until she applied for a maternity benefit in 2007.
According to the local paper she screamed at the jury when they found her guilty - more.
Judge Wassall imposed a six-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months, plus a two-month home curfew from 6pm-midnight monitored by electronic tagging. He refused a request for £1,000 prosecution costs because she has no money.
She had applied for Severe Disablement Allowance in August 2000 because of arthritis, despite being 'the brains' behind Working Sail, a small yacht-building firm she ran with her husband. And in 2003 she was headhunted by Falmouth Marine School to write and manage a new Level 3 boat-building course – but did not inform the DWP until she applied for a maternity benefit in 2007.
According to the local paper she screamed at the jury when they found her guilty - more.
Judge Wassall imposed a six-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months, plus a two-month home curfew from 6pm-midnight monitored by electronic tagging. He refused a request for £1,000 prosecution costs because she has no money.
21 Jan 2010
Suspended sentence for £37k fraud
A mother who cheated the benefits system out of more than £52,000 has escaped a jail sentence and the commenters on the Manchester Evening News report are not impressed.
Jacqueline Johnson from Mossley falsely claimed more than £31,000 in income support, £19,000 in housing benefit and £2,000 in council tax benefit over four years.
She claimed to be a single mother with no extra income, but for most of the time she was living with her husband who was in full-time employment. She also worked as a sales assistant, shop assistant and then a care worker.
She gave false National Insurance details to one of her employers to avoid detection and was only caught when a tip-off was made to the DWP hotline.
If Johnson had admitted her true circumstances, she would have been legitimately entitled to around £15,000 in family tax credit payments.
Caroline Patrick, defending, said Johnson had been struggling to pay off debts built up by her son. She also had to cope with her husband’s drinking problems. She said Johnson, who has now split up from her husband, had also lost both her parents within a year. She suffered anxiety and stress and was ashamed to appear in the dock.
Recorder Mr Richard Pratt said discounting the £15,000 she would properly have been entitled to, and £1,000 she had repaid, the amount still owing was about £37,000.
He said he was considering imposing a custodial sentence but because of her circumstances, he would suspend the 18-week term for two years. She was also ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work.
Jacqueline Johnson from Mossley falsely claimed more than £31,000 in income support, £19,000 in housing benefit and £2,000 in council tax benefit over four years.
She claimed to be a single mother with no extra income, but for most of the time she was living with her husband who was in full-time employment. She also worked as a sales assistant, shop assistant and then a care worker.
She gave false National Insurance details to one of her employers to avoid detection and was only caught when a tip-off was made to the DWP hotline.
If Johnson had admitted her true circumstances, she would have been legitimately entitled to around £15,000 in family tax credit payments.
Caroline Patrick, defending, said Johnson had been struggling to pay off debts built up by her son. She also had to cope with her husband’s drinking problems. She said Johnson, who has now split up from her husband, had also lost both her parents within a year. She suffered anxiety and stress and was ashamed to appear in the dock.
Recorder Mr Richard Pratt said discounting the £15,000 she would properly have been entitled to, and £1,000 she had repaid, the amount still owing was about £37,000.
He said he was considering imposing a custodial sentence but because of her circumstances, he would suspend the 18-week term for two years. She was also ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work.
- 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.
Suspended sentence for £69k benefit fraud
Andrea Richards, a school governor from Waltham Abbey, has confessed to fraudulently claiming £69,447 in benefits between 2001 and 2008 while working as an accountant.
Her annual income was estimated to be around £50,000, and she also earned extra income by renting out a further property in Stratford, east London. She was able to buy a villa in Cyprus and invest in a time-share apartment in Orlando, Florida.
The mother of two first claimed for cash in November 2001 when she was genuinely out of work, but had failed to let the authorities know about her changed circumstances.
Judge John Hand QC handed her a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years. She is also expected to be struck off as an accountant.
Ms Richards was caught out when investigators from the DWP found records of her accountancy work on her personal computer. She also falsely claimed she was a single parent, but was actually living with partner Rodney Bailey, who is listed online as the managing director of the company she works for, Account For It Ltd. The company is also listed as being based out of her Monkswood Avenue home on its website.
Her annual income was estimated to be around £50,000, and she also earned extra income by renting out a further property in Stratford, east London. She was able to buy a villa in Cyprus and invest in a time-share apartment in Orlando, Florida.
The mother of two first claimed for cash in November 2001 when she was genuinely out of work, but had failed to let the authorities know about her changed circumstances.
Judge John Hand QC handed her a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years. She is also expected to be struck off as an accountant.
Ms Richards was caught out when investigators from the DWP found records of her accountancy work on her personal computer. She also falsely claimed she was a single parent, but was actually living with partner Rodney Bailey, who is listed online as the managing director of the company she works for, Account For It Ltd. The company is also listed as being based out of her Monkswood Avenue home on its website.
- 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. Some local authorities think benefit fraud costs each household £80-£100 a year. It's probably nearer £150-£175.
Hounslow prosecutes for £860 benefit fraud
A benefit cheat who dishonestly claimed more than £860 in housing benefit has been successfully prosecuted by the London Borough of Hounslow.
Kevin Richardson was found guilty at Feltham Magistrates court. The fraud came to light when he failed to notify the council that his jobseekers allowance had ended, meaning that he was no longer automically entitled to claim housing benefit.
Mr Richardson was first summoned to appear at Brentford Magistrates Court in August 2009, but failed to attend, and the case was adjourned until early September. When Mr Richardson didn’t attend the hearing again in September, the case was heard and proven in his absence and a warrant issued for his arrest.
He was arrested in September and taken to Feltham Magistrates court where he was released on bail to enable him to obtain legal advice.
As a result of his actions, Mr Richardson was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service pay costs of £500 and to repay the benefits falsely claimed back in full.
Kevin Richardson was found guilty at Feltham Magistrates court. The fraud came to light when he failed to notify the council that his jobseekers allowance had ended, meaning that he was no longer automically entitled to claim housing benefit.
Mr Richardson was first summoned to appear at Brentford Magistrates Court in August 2009, but failed to attend, and the case was adjourned until early September. When Mr Richardson didn’t attend the hearing again in September, the case was heard and proven in his absence and a warrant issued for his arrest.
He was arrested in September and taken to Feltham Magistrates court where he was released on bail to enable him to obtain legal advice.
As a result of his actions, Mr Richardson was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service pay costs of £500 and to repay the benefits falsely claimed back in full.
- A steep penalty relative to the crime - good.
But claimants shouldn't have to trail from one agency to another in this age of databases, especially as it only puts temptation in their way. Databases should communicate!
20 Jan 2010
Checkered progress on single person fraud
Tonbridge & Malling Council received a total of 29 reports containing 2,342 matches as a result of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI). The number of matches increased this year to include single person allowance, concessionary bus passes, licences, right to buy and insurance claims.
2,146 matches have been investigated and closed. Of the remaining 87 cases open, 48 relate to single person discount where additional investigation is required.
There were nine cases where a single person allowance was not applicable and the allowance was cancelled. As a result there was an overall increase of Council Tax due of £2364.79.
There were also cases where a single person allowance was claimed on a property but additional persons were identified as being associated with it. 22 cases of single person discount have been cancelled with additional Council Tax of £12,566 being added to bills.
Following discussions with the Principal Revenue Officer it was decided that any cases found where there was a single person allowance being claimed incorrectly it would treated as an error. So no penalties - and no backdating?
We've already discussed action against blue badge fraud at Barking and Dagenham. The anti-fraud operation there has uncovered 216 people who were wrongly claiming council tax discounts - leading to a much greater saving for the taxpayer, of £60,000.
The council's anti-fraud and council tax teams worked with the Audit Commission to check electronic data shared between different public bodies. The findings enabled them to weed out people suspected of claiming the discount but not living alone. Letters were sent to these claimants asking them if they were still living alone. If they replied that they were, a second letter was sent listing the other people believed to be living there and asking them to explain the discrepancy. If no satisfactory explanation was received the council tax team carried out home visits to find out how many people actually lived there. If there was no response to the letters, or if more than one adult was found to be living in the property, the discount was removed and a new bill issued.
In neither case is there any sense that people are being penalised or pursued for evasion - which could go back several years. No penalty, no publicity ... where's the deterrent here? Why are the councils not doing their best for their taxpayers at large?
2,146 matches have been investigated and closed. Of the remaining 87 cases open, 48 relate to single person discount where additional investigation is required.
There were nine cases where a single person allowance was not applicable and the allowance was cancelled. As a result there was an overall increase of Council Tax due of £2364.79.
There were also cases where a single person allowance was claimed on a property but additional persons were identified as being associated with it. 22 cases of single person discount have been cancelled with additional Council Tax of £12,566 being added to bills.
Following discussions with the Principal Revenue Officer it was decided that any cases found where there was a single person allowance being claimed incorrectly it would treated as an error. So no penalties - and no backdating?
We've already discussed action against blue badge fraud at Barking and Dagenham. The anti-fraud operation there has uncovered 216 people who were wrongly claiming council tax discounts - leading to a much greater saving for the taxpayer, of £60,000.
The council's anti-fraud and council tax teams worked with the Audit Commission to check electronic data shared between different public bodies. The findings enabled them to weed out people suspected of claiming the discount but not living alone. Letters were sent to these claimants asking them if they were still living alone. If they replied that they were, a second letter was sent listing the other people believed to be living there and asking them to explain the discrepancy. If no satisfactory explanation was received the council tax team carried out home visits to find out how many people actually lived there. If there was no response to the letters, or if more than one adult was found to be living in the property, the discount was removed and a new bill issued.
In neither case is there any sense that people are being penalised or pursued for evasion - which could go back several years. No penalty, no publicity ... where's the deterrent here? Why are the councils not doing their best for their taxpayers at large?
Barking & Wandsworth go after blue badge fraud
Barking and Dagenham Council has decided to clamp down on blue badge fraud, which is a growing problem in the borough. A recent check of blue badges in Barking Town Centre revealed that 20% of badges had been illegally copied. As well as copied badges the other problem is drivers using other people's badges, often family members, to park illegally in disabled bays.
Blue badge fraud takes away much-needed disabled parking bays from those who genuinely need them. There are 53 disabled parking spaces in Barking Town Centre, which should be enough for those in need. However, the council has been told by disabled groups that the spaces are often taken and it hopes that the clamp-down on blue badge fraud will help solve the problem.
Wandsworth Council reports good sentences being passed for blue badge fraud. Hurrah!
Blue badge fraud takes away much-needed disabled parking bays from those who genuinely need them. There are 53 disabled parking spaces in Barking Town Centre, which should be enough for those in need. However, the council has been told by disabled groups that the spaces are often taken and it hopes that the clamp-down on blue badge fraud will help solve the problem.
Wandsworth Council reports good sentences being passed for blue badge fraud. Hurrah!
- Fatima Kelay from Battersea was caught using an elderly relative's blue badge to park outside Clapham Junction station all day while she caught a train to the law firm in central London where she works. She pleaded guilty to four counts of deception and was fined £1,415 and ordered to pay the council's prosecution costs of £709. She had also earlier had to pay £250 to free her vehicle from the car pound after it was seized by investigators.
- Eriden Pasic was also prosecuted for using a relative's blue badge to park all day in a designated disabled parking bay in Disraeli Road in Putney, while he worked at a bank in Putney High Street. Mr Pasic, from Paddington, admitted three counts of parking fraud and was fined £1,065 and ordered to pay legal costs of £667. These sums were on top of the £250 he had been forced to pay to recover his vehicle from the car pound.
- Carole Morris from Wallington admitted three counts of parking fraud and another offence of possessing an item for the purposes of fraud, after it emerged that she was using her dead mother-in-law's blue badge to park near the children's clothes shop she works at in Northcote Road, Battersea. She was fined £1,415 and ordered to pay the council's legal costs of £793, which came on top of the £250 towaway fee she'd had to pay to get her car back.
- Mohomed Karim from Streatham was prosecuted for using a badge that had been fraudulently altered so that he could park his Mercedes for nothing in Brightwell Crescent in Tooting. Mr Karim admitted altering the dates on a permit that had expired in August 2004 so that it looked like it could still be used up to August 2009. He was fined £365 with court costs of £583 – in addition to the £250 fee at the car pound.
- Shopkeeper Mohammed Batha, also fromn Streatham, was caught using his elderly father's blue badge to park for free near his clothes shop in the Mitcham Road, Tooting. He was fined £1,195 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £695, on top of the £250 he had to pay to get his car back after it had been towed away.
- Kwabena Acheampong from Walthamstow was using a permit - previously reported as lost - that belonged to his girlfriend's mother. He was caught using it to stay at his girlfriend's house in Tooting. He admitted three counts of deception and was fined £615 plus costs of £500 – in addition to the £250 release fee he had to pay to get his car out of the vehicle pound.
- And Samsoodin Tejani from Mitcham, who was caught using his elderly mother's permit to park near Tooting Bec tube station while he commuted into London for work, was fined £3,165 and ordered to pay the council's legal costs of £681. He failed to appear in court to answer the six fraud charges against him and the case was proved in his absence. He had also earlier been required to pay £250 to recover his car from the pound.
These motorists should hang their heads in shame.
Not only are they taking away parking spaces from people who are genuinely disabled, but they have no qualms about leaving their elderly parents and relatives cruelly cooped up indoors just so they can save themselves a few pounds each day.
Anyone tempted by blue badge fraud should remember that we receive a steady stream of tip-offs from colleagues, neighbours and sometimes even friends and families. Many people are outraged that these drivers are abusing a scheme that is there to help the disabled.
If you are tempted and we catch you, then rest assured you will go to court, get a big fine and a criminal record and your friends and neighbours will no doubt read all about it the local paper too.
19 Jan 2010
Recommended reading
A retired cabbie discourses very readably about his experiences of benefit thieves from a couple of years ago - a good read.
Light sentence for blatant £24k benefit theft
The Norwich Evening News is on the case of Karen Alexander, who used them in a campaign for better council housing while committing benefit fraud: she claimed she was single while she was living with her partner.
Over a six-year period she received an overpayment of £24,703 in council tax and housing benefits for her city council accommodation.
The fact that she was living with him only came to light when Alexander herself finally told the council her partner had moved out in 2008 and investigators then found they had in fact been living together for the past six years. The council is now claiming back the money and £1,000 has been repaid so far.
She got away with a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years and an order to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
Over a six-year period she received an overpayment of £24,703 in council tax and housing benefits for her city council accommodation.
The fact that she was living with him only came to light when Alexander herself finally told the council her partner had moved out in 2008 and investigators then found they had in fact been living together for the past six years. The council is now claiming back the money and £1,000 has been repaid so far.
She got away with a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years and an order to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
18 Jan 2010
Data matching nails Matchborough benefit thief - no punishment
He got away with a conditional discharge.
Roger Roberts was convicted on five charges of dishonestly claiming income support of £2,459 in addition to housing benefit and council tax benefits of £8,159 between February 2003 and June 2008.
The fraud was uncovered by a data match made by the DWP which identified that Mr Roberts held accounts that he had failed to disclose that held money far in excess of the limit for claiming benefits.
Mr Rogers told the court that he had started to repay the money he had fraudulently claimed and thought that would be the end of the matter!
He was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to repay £6,853.80 still owing to the council through a compensation order, £4,000 of which must be paid within 28 days. Mr Rogers will also have to repay the £2,459.30 of income support owing to the DWP and he was also ordered to pay £150 towards the prosecution costs.
Councillor Mike Braley, who must have been a disappointed man, said:
Roger Roberts was convicted on five charges of dishonestly claiming income support of £2,459 in addition to housing benefit and council tax benefits of £8,159 between February 2003 and June 2008.
The fraud was uncovered by a data match made by the DWP which identified that Mr Roberts held accounts that he had failed to disclose that held money far in excess of the limit for claiming benefits.
Mr Rogers told the court that he had started to repay the money he had fraudulently claimed and thought that would be the end of the matter!
He was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to repay £6,853.80 still owing to the council through a compensation order, £4,000 of which must be paid within 28 days. Mr Rogers will also have to repay the £2,459.30 of income support owing to the DWP and he was also ordered to pay £150 towards the prosecution costs.
Councillor Mike Braley, who must have been a disappointed man, said:
We are committed to recovering fraudulently overpaid benefit as quickly as possible, but, for various reasons, it can take some time for a case to get to court. Repayment may be taken into consideration in sentencing for offences but will not prevent a case being taken to court.DWP unit fraud investigator Colin Mitchell added:
Our investigators have more powers than ever before – we can check the bank accounts and household bills of those we suspect of fraud, as well as working with local authorities like Redditch to ensure benefit claims are valid. Matching data this way has helped uncover millions of pounds in overpayments every year.
Bridgend: poor progress on National Fraud Initiative
Bridgend reports that overall 3,613 cases have been processed, of which 1,074 are the subject of further investigation.
1,470 Housing Benefit matches have been processed with 76 cases identified for detailed investigation (with approximately 40 potential cases pending). Initial potential savings of £27,374 have been identified. Of this, only two cases related to fraud (£8,036) - the rest are the result of official error. This may change when all investigations have been completed.
In respect of Council Tax single person fraud, savings of a meagre £1,578 have been identified. A second run has been completed with "matches due early next year" (the report is dated January 2010). "Much investigative work has still to be completed and it will be some time before a final figure is available."
Either fraud at Bridgend is astonishingly low, or progress in detecting it is astonishingly slow.
1,470 Housing Benefit matches have been processed with 76 cases identified for detailed investigation (with approximately 40 potential cases pending). Initial potential savings of £27,374 have been identified. Of this, only two cases related to fraud (£8,036) - the rest are the result of official error. This may change when all investigations have been completed.
In respect of Council Tax single person fraud, savings of a meagre £1,578 have been identified. A second run has been completed with "matches due early next year" (the report is dated January 2010). "Much investigative work has still to be completed and it will be some time before a final figure is available."
Either fraud at Bridgend is astonishingly low, or progress in detecting it is astonishingly slow.
17 Jan 2010
Suspended sentence for £11k fraud
Even as Rick Page, from Newcastle, was pocketing his share of £200-a-night fee as part of North East rock duo Bitter Sweet, he claimed to be suffering from a crippling chest condition that left him unable to work.
He stole over £11,000 in benefits, including housing benefit and council tax relief, while keeping quiet about wife Vera’s job in a school kitchen.
He was given a 26-week jail term suspended for two years after admitting five charges of benefit fraud.
Much more, including one or two gruesome puns.
He stole over £11,000 in benefits, including housing benefit and council tax relief, while keeping quiet about wife Vera’s job in a school kitchen.
He was given a 26-week jail term suspended for two years after admitting five charges of benefit fraud.
Much more, including one or two gruesome puns.
Sentencing guidelines now more lenient - Judge
A NATIONAL Lottery winner with three homes and a passion for foreign holidays avoided being sent to prison yesterday after confessing she was also a benefits cheat.
Divorcee Sandra Bellamy, 52, admitted claiming almost £15,000 in income support as well as housing and council tax payments under false pretences.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Bellamy had failed to divulge winning £154,026 from the National Lottery in May 2006.
She had owned a home in Southend before her marriage broke up and she moved to Bournemouth in 2004. She claimed for income support on September 4 that year, completing housing benefit and council tax forms a week later. She told the DWP that she was a single parent, living with her daughter. Her partner had left her with zero and she had no savings.
In August 2005 Bellamy bought a £247,500 property in Bournemouth, putting down her £30,000 divorce settlement as a deposit and taking out a mortgage. Five months after banking her lottery win she splashed out on another house in Bournemouth costing £249,950, putting down a £29,500 deposit and taking out another mortgage. Both properties were rented out for about £3,000 a month.
Her bank statements between June and October 2006 showed transactions in New York, Barbados, Turkey and Croatia.
In a bid to make amends she was repaying £50 a month to the DWP and Bournemouth council but still owed £13,200. But she has those asssets!
He imposed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered Bellamy to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.
Divorcee Sandra Bellamy, 52, admitted claiming almost £15,000 in income support as well as housing and council tax payments under false pretences.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Bellamy had failed to divulge winning £154,026 from the National Lottery in May 2006.
She had owned a home in Southend before her marriage broke up and she moved to Bournemouth in 2004. She claimed for income support on September 4 that year, completing housing benefit and council tax forms a week later. She told the DWP that she was a single parent, living with her daughter. Her partner had left her with zero and she had no savings.
In August 2005 Bellamy bought a £247,500 property in Bournemouth, putting down her £30,000 divorce settlement as a deposit and taking out a mortgage. Five months after banking her lottery win she splashed out on another house in Bournemouth costing £249,950, putting down a £29,500 deposit and taking out another mortgage. Both properties were rented out for about £3,000 a month.
Her bank statements between June and October 2006 showed transactions in New York, Barbados, Turkey and Croatia.
In a bid to make amends she was repaying £50 a month to the DWP and Bournemouth council but still owed £13,200. But she has those asssets!
Branding the offences “blatant,” Judge Samuel Wiggs told Bellamy: “A few years ago this would have resulted in an immediate custodial sentence but the guidelines have changed.”
He imposed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered Bellamy to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.
16 Jan 2010
Scots couple sentenced for benefit fraud
A Scottish couple who went on the run from police and were arrested in Spain after appearing on a "most wanted" list have been sentenced for fraud offences.
Anthony Kearney and Donna McCafferty were tracked down in the Costa Blanca town of Benissa way back in November 2008. At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Kearney was jailed for two years and McCafferty was given 250 hours community service.
Kearney, who is currently serving a five-year sentence for attempting to extort £35,000 from a businessman, had admitted defrauding more than £42,300 from the DWP between December 1997 and March 2004. He also admitted defrauding £10,350 from the Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank by using a false identity to take out credit cards. He also pleaded guilty to using fake company names to transfer £126,400 into an offshore account in October 2003.
McCafferty admitted defrauding more than £13,000 in housing benefit between November 1999 and March 2004. She was originally charged with a string of further frauds amounting to more than £74,000 but the Crown accepted her pleas of not guilty to these offences.
Defence advocate Simon Gilbride, representing Kearney, told the court that his client took full responsibility for the offences and that his partner's involvement was simply signing forms that he asked her to. So she got away with a small sentence.
Anthony Kearney and Donna McCafferty were tracked down in the Costa Blanca town of Benissa way back in November 2008. At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Kearney was jailed for two years and McCafferty was given 250 hours community service.
Kearney, who is currently serving a five-year sentence for attempting to extort £35,000 from a businessman, had admitted defrauding more than £42,300 from the DWP between December 1997 and March 2004. He also admitted defrauding £10,350 from the Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank by using a false identity to take out credit cards. He also pleaded guilty to using fake company names to transfer £126,400 into an offshore account in October 2003.
McCafferty admitted defrauding more than £13,000 in housing benefit between November 1999 and March 2004. She was originally charged with a string of further frauds amounting to more than £74,000 but the Crown accepted her pleas of not guilty to these offences.
Defence advocate Simon Gilbride, representing Kearney, told the court that his client took full responsibility for the offences and that his partner's involvement was simply signing forms that he asked her to. So she got away with a small sentence.
15 Jan 2010
Six months' benefit fraud in Coventry
The Coventry City Council fraud unit reports that it received 645 referrals between April and September 2009, and conducted 216 investigations, 59 of which resulted in a formal sanction (a caution, administrative penalty or prosecution).
Results from the National Fraud initiative, combined with the results from the 'living together' project mentioned below, have contributed towards the £482k of fraudulently claimed benefit which the fraud unit have identified since 1 April 2009.
Coventry continues to work jointly with the DWP to investigate cases where it is suspected that people are living together and claiming benefit as a single person. This 'living together' project continues to yield successful sanctions and represents valuable anti-fraud activity against a type of offence which is notoriously difficult and laborious to investigate. Two recent cases identified total overpaid benefits in excess of £180k, £80k of which was overpaid housing/council tax benefit. One of the cases took more than 12 months to investigate and included many hours of surveillance to bring about a successful prosecution.
In May 2009 the fraud unit participated in a joint operation with the police targeting taxis in the city. During the operation the details of 29 drivers were cross-matched with the benefits and council tax database to identify discrepancies. Ten cases required further investigation, including two cases where Single Person Discounts had been awarded for the past several years and the information provided during the exercise suggested that the relevant properties were occupied by more than one adult.
The fraud unit continue to undertake targeted fraud drives, including a recent intelligence-led exercise involving staff at a large city centre retailer. The details of approximately 250 employees were cross-referenced with the benefits and council tax database and 20 cases require further investigation.
The fraud unit are close to completing all of the referrals resulting from the National Fraud Initiative. Over £80k in overpaid benefit has been identified as a result of the initiative and this figure is likely to rise further. More than 885 cases have been looked at as part of the initiative from a sample of 3,682 cases.
Coventry's accredited financial investigator has already established a significant caseload, including two housing benefit fraud cases and eight cases with Trading Standards. In a recent housing benefit fraud case, the Crown Court ordered the confiscation of £7,225 against a housing benefit overpayment of £12,455.
The final stages of the Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) pilot are drawing to a close nationally and results from the pilot so far suggest that the software is an effective and reliable tool which both improves claims administration whilst also helping to eradicate fraud and error from the benefit system.
Nearly 3,000 claims have now been processed using VRA technology in the Coventry pilot. In 91% of these cases no risk was indentified during the initial VRA process and the claim was therefore expedited into payment. Of the 9% of cases where risk has been identified during the initial VRA call, 21% of claims have either been deemed unsuccessful by assessment staff or withdrawn by the customer.
Results from the National Fraud initiative, combined with the results from the 'living together' project mentioned below, have contributed towards the £482k of fraudulently claimed benefit which the fraud unit have identified since 1 April 2009.
Coventry continues to work jointly with the DWP to investigate cases where it is suspected that people are living together and claiming benefit as a single person. This 'living together' project continues to yield successful sanctions and represents valuable anti-fraud activity against a type of offence which is notoriously difficult and laborious to investigate. Two recent cases identified total overpaid benefits in excess of £180k, £80k of which was overpaid housing/council tax benefit. One of the cases took more than 12 months to investigate and included many hours of surveillance to bring about a successful prosecution.
In May 2009 the fraud unit participated in a joint operation with the police targeting taxis in the city. During the operation the details of 29 drivers were cross-matched with the benefits and council tax database to identify discrepancies. Ten cases required further investigation, including two cases where Single Person Discounts had been awarded for the past several years and the information provided during the exercise suggested that the relevant properties were occupied by more than one adult.
The fraud unit continue to undertake targeted fraud drives, including a recent intelligence-led exercise involving staff at a large city centre retailer. The details of approximately 250 employees were cross-referenced with the benefits and council tax database and 20 cases require further investigation.
The fraud unit are close to completing all of the referrals resulting from the National Fraud Initiative. Over £80k in overpaid benefit has been identified as a result of the initiative and this figure is likely to rise further. More than 885 cases have been looked at as part of the initiative from a sample of 3,682 cases.
Coventry's accredited financial investigator has already established a significant caseload, including two housing benefit fraud cases and eight cases with Trading Standards. In a recent housing benefit fraud case, the Crown Court ordered the confiscation of £7,225 against a housing benefit overpayment of £12,455.
The final stages of the Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) pilot are drawing to a close nationally and results from the pilot so far suggest that the software is an effective and reliable tool which both improves claims administration whilst also helping to eradicate fraud and error from the benefit system.
Nearly 3,000 claims have now been processed using VRA technology in the Coventry pilot. In 91% of these cases no risk was indentified during the initial VRA process and the claim was therefore expedited into payment. Of the 9% of cases where risk has been identified during the initial VRA call, 21% of claims have either been deemed unsuccessful by assessment staff or withdrawn by the customer.
Benefits cheat stole from charity shop
A benefits cheat who is addicted to gambling stole from a charity shop he was ordered to work in to repay his debt to society.
Alexandro Masarella was caught pocketing cash from the till at the Mind shop in St James's Street, Brighton, to feed his betting habit.
Masarella had been ordered to do 240 hours unpaid work after being convicted of stealing hundreds of pounds in benefits he was not entitled to. He liked the work so much he asked if he could stay on as a volunteer after he had completed his punishment.
His boss noticed the till was £15 short when she cashed up on September 9, last year.
He was ordered to do another 240 hours unpaid community work within 12 months. He must also pay £15 compensation to Mind and £15 towards prosecution costs.
More
Alexandro Masarella was caught pocketing cash from the till at the Mind shop in St James's Street, Brighton, to feed his betting habit.
Masarella had been ordered to do 240 hours unpaid work after being convicted of stealing hundreds of pounds in benefits he was not entitled to. He liked the work so much he asked if he could stay on as a volunteer after he had completed his punishment.
His boss noticed the till was £15 short when she cashed up on September 9, last year.
He was ordered to do another 240 hours unpaid community work within 12 months. He must also pay £15 compensation to Mind and £15 towards prosecution costs.
More
14 Jan 2010
Tax credit fraud goes unpunished
An Ilminster woman has been convicted of benefit fraud after she hid her partner’s return to employment in order to gain £2,700 that she was not entitled to.
She failed to inform South Somerset District Council that her partner had returned to work and continued to receive Tax Credits.
All she got was a 12-month conditional discharge and an order to pay a mere £40 costs.
The council participated in data matching exercises run by the DWP and the Audit Commission to identify the fraud, meaning that the full amount will be repaid.
The council’s investigations team has already clawed back over £209,000 of fraudulently claimed benefits since April 2009.
She failed to inform South Somerset District Council that her partner had returned to work and continued to receive Tax Credits.
All she got was a 12-month conditional discharge and an order to pay a mere £40 costs.
The council participated in data matching exercises run by the DWP and the Audit Commission to identify the fraud, meaning that the full amount will be repaid.
The council’s investigations team has already clawed back over £209,000 of fraudulently claimed benefits since April 2009.
- First, poor members of society simply shouldn't have this temptation laid open to them. It's ridiculous that different parts of the government money machine don't routinely communicate changes like this to each other.
But a crime has been committed - yet she has received no punishment at all. The investigating authorities should be very disappointed. What message does this sentence send to the public?
13 Jan 2010
EU opens UK to benefits tourism
Thousands of workers from the EU are flocking to Britain as “National Insurance tourists” to get access to our generous benefits and pensions.
Polish-owned companies with UK offices are encouraging self-employed people who live and work in Poland to switch their NI payments to Britain.
All that is required is a one-day visit to London for an appointment at a JobCentre Plus to get a NI number and open a UK bank account. They are lured by the promise of a British basic pension of £412.75, compared with just £130 a month in Poland.
An investigation by the Daily Express discovered how UK-based representatives of unscrupulous Polish firms regularly collect self-employed workers at British airports. These agents have already set up appointments at the JobCentre and bank.
The Polish workers can legitimately claim to be employed by the UK-based company, performing five hours “consultancy” work per month, which can be done by telephone or computer from anywhere in the world. The UK-registered firm, which is paid up to £100 a month by each “tourist”, issues them with payslips and pays their British NI, often as little as £10 per month.
The fee is considerably less than the £190 a month a taxi driver or hairdresser can expect to pay in contributions in Poland, and could allow them access to higher pensions and other benefits.
Businessman Ireneusz Klader, whose firm in the Polish city of Rzeszow urges self-employed Poles to “live off the Queen”, insisted his business was completely legal.
He said: “This system is available for every member of the EU. I am actually doing a favour to the British taxpayer as my company, on behalf of my clients, is paying many tens of thousands of pounds every month in contributions.”
But when asked about the cost to Britain when his clients reach retirement age, he said: “This is in the future and we are now talking about the present.” The Polish parliament is so concerned by the drop in contributions that Labour Minister Jolanta Fedak has asked for Britain’s help.
She issued a warning to Poles intending to travel to Britain not to be tempted by the claim that they will qualify for a hefty pension.
She said: “Paying the minimum contribution abroad will not generate enough for a pension. And they won’t have a domestic one as they will have accumulated nothing in Poland.” It is estimated as many as 5,000 self-employed Poles have taken advantage of such schemes in the past 12 months, despite still living and working in their home country.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This is the latest example of benefit shopping where the UK is chosen as we have such a lax and flawed system. This should be of huge concern to both the Polish and UK governments.”
htp Dave
Polish-owned companies with UK offices are encouraging self-employed people who live and work in Poland to switch their NI payments to Britain.
All that is required is a one-day visit to London for an appointment at a JobCentre Plus to get a NI number and open a UK bank account. They are lured by the promise of a British basic pension of £412.75, compared with just £130 a month in Poland.
An investigation by the Daily Express discovered how UK-based representatives of unscrupulous Polish firms regularly collect self-employed workers at British airports. These agents have already set up appointments at the JobCentre and bank.
The Polish workers can legitimately claim to be employed by the UK-based company, performing five hours “consultancy” work per month, which can be done by telephone or computer from anywhere in the world. The UK-registered firm, which is paid up to £100 a month by each “tourist”, issues them with payslips and pays their British NI, often as little as £10 per month.
The fee is considerably less than the £190 a month a taxi driver or hairdresser can expect to pay in contributions in Poland, and could allow them access to higher pensions and other benefits.
Businessman Ireneusz Klader, whose firm in the Polish city of Rzeszow urges self-employed Poles to “live off the Queen”, insisted his business was completely legal.
He said: “This system is available for every member of the EU. I am actually doing a favour to the British taxpayer as my company, on behalf of my clients, is paying many tens of thousands of pounds every month in contributions.”
But when asked about the cost to Britain when his clients reach retirement age, he said: “This is in the future and we are now talking about the present.” The Polish parliament is so concerned by the drop in contributions that Labour Minister Jolanta Fedak has asked for Britain’s help.
She issued a warning to Poles intending to travel to Britain not to be tempted by the claim that they will qualify for a hefty pension.
She said: “Paying the minimum contribution abroad will not generate enough for a pension. And they won’t have a domestic one as they will have accumulated nothing in Poland.” It is estimated as many as 5,000 self-employed Poles have taken advantage of such schemes in the past 12 months, despite still living and working in their home country.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This is the latest example of benefit shopping where the UK is chosen as we have such a lax and flawed system. This should be of huge concern to both the Polish and UK governments.”
htp Dave
£11k benefit fraud in Kent
A woman who fraudulently obtained more than £11,000 in benefits over a nine-month period has been given a 12-month community order.
Danielle Antoniou, formerly Elliott, from Sittingbourne, was sentenced to 60 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £50 costs after pleading guilty.
The court heard how the 23-year-old failed to notify the DWP and Swale council that she was living as husband and wife with Mark Johnson.
More
Danielle Antoniou, formerly Elliott, from Sittingbourne, was sentenced to 60 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £50 costs after pleading guilty.
The court heard how the 23-year-old failed to notify the DWP and Swale council that she was living as husband and wife with Mark Johnson.
More
- Just not volunteering information netted her £11,000.
£32k benefit thief mother goes unpunished
A pregnant mother-of-four who cheated the benefits system out £32,126 in income support over several years has been allowed to go free by a court.
Lindsay Ayers from Blackpool had failed to tell the authorities she was living with a man, but her fraud was exposed when he telephoned the local authority to complain about noisy neighbours and checks revealed he was not registered as living there!
The defence said: "She would ask him to leave from time to time because their relationship was rocky at that time. It is now more stable."
She was merely sentenced to 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, and put on two years supervision by Blackpool magistrates.
So no punishment. We'll never get our money back either. She's got children, see. And she's having another.
Lindsay Ayers from Blackpool had failed to tell the authorities she was living with a man, but her fraud was exposed when he telephoned the local authority to complain about noisy neighbours and checks revealed he was not registered as living there!
The defence said: "She would ask him to leave from time to time because their relationship was rocky at that time. It is now more stable."
She was merely sentenced to 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years, and put on two years supervision by Blackpool magistrates.
So no punishment. We'll never get our money back either. She's got children, see. And she's having another.
12 Jan 2010
Chorley benefit cheat goes unpunished
Andrew Brown has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than £6,000 in benefits.
He had claimed housing benefit and council tax benefit on the basis that he was too ill to work and that his only source of income was his incapacity benefit. But he failed to tell Chorley Council and the DWP that he had obtained employment as a cleaner.
The case came to light when it was found that he had advertised his cleaning company on a website! An investigation revealed he had three cleaning jobs with Lancashire County Council (which data matching hadn't picked up) and during his interview under caution, he admitted he had also worked as cleaner for a building company.
Steps are being taken to recover the overpayment in full, we're told. Ha ha!
He had claimed housing benefit and council tax benefit on the basis that he was too ill to work and that his only source of income was his incapacity benefit. But he failed to tell Chorley Council and the DWP that he had obtained employment as a cleaner.
The case came to light when it was found that he had advertised his cleaning company on a website! An investigation revealed he had three cleaning jobs with Lancashire County Council (which data matching hadn't picked up) and during his interview under caution, he admitted he had also worked as cleaner for a building company.
Magistrates took into account that he was now back on benefits and sentenced him to a two-year conditional discharge and no award for costs was made.
Steps are being taken to recover the overpayment in full, we're told. Ha ha!
Couple were systematic benefit thieves
Nelli Kellaway is all over the papers this morning because her case is so colourful. She swindled nearly £60,000 in benefits and spent the money on going to Russia to have breast enlargements. She took her daughter for the same operation and also lavished cash on other plastic surgery and cosmetic dentistry. But she was a thief.
Her husband, Steven, also went to Russia but died during the trip. She was arrested on the day that she flew back to the UK with his ashes.
But the case is more serious and shows just how people can milk the benefits system. Searches by police revealed the couple had a string of properties which they rented out, earning £100,000 a year, but still claimed housing benefit. They also had close to £200,000 in undeclared cash accounts.
Kellaway has pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and two counts of money laundering.
Their latest fraud came to light after her husband submitted a claim for housing and council tax benefit in March 2008. He declared that he was a single parent on Income Support but was actually living with his wife.
He also failed to state that she had more than £80,000 in undeclared bank accounts, owned property in Camden and had a rental income of more than £2,000 per month. And Mr Kellaway did not the tell the council that, as of June 2008, he had £119,000 in a Nationwide Flex Account.
Council officials and the police are now seeking to seize these assets.
Just seven months later, the council received another claim for housing and council tax from the same address from a woman who said Mr Kellaway was her landlord!
And when the property was checked, two more tenants said the Kellaways were their landlords, renting the rooms to them for cash deposits of £600 and a weekly cash rental of £240.
The address was later searched by council staff who discovered evidence of the undeclared bank accounts.
They also found Mrs Kellaway's diary, which stated that she and her 24-year-old daughter had travelled to Russia for the surgery.
A search of her computer revealed forged documents and other papers which were used for another false claim for housing benefit at an address in Richmond, South-West London. The documents also identified income from other rented properties across London.
One of the spreadsheets detailed an income of £98,000 a year through false claims to the benefit system.
Background checks on the couple found that Steven Kellaway had been convicted of benefit fraud in November 2007. But they still had plenty of assets. And if there was any caution marker against him, it was ineffective. And data matching hadn't exposed them. Benefits administrators have questions to answer.
His widow will be required to pay back £57,000 and all other assets deemed to be the proceeds of crime, which will be a very tidy sum.
Her husband, Steven, also went to Russia but died during the trip. She was arrested on the day that she flew back to the UK with his ashes.
But the case is more serious and shows just how people can milk the benefits system. Searches by police revealed the couple had a string of properties which they rented out, earning £100,000 a year, but still claimed housing benefit. They also had close to £200,000 in undeclared cash accounts.
Kellaway has pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and two counts of money laundering.
Their latest fraud came to light after her husband submitted a claim for housing and council tax benefit in March 2008. He declared that he was a single parent on Income Support but was actually living with his wife.
He also failed to state that she had more than £80,000 in undeclared bank accounts, owned property in Camden and had a rental income of more than £2,000 per month. And Mr Kellaway did not the tell the council that, as of June 2008, he had £119,000 in a Nationwide Flex Account.
Council officials and the police are now seeking to seize these assets.
Just seven months later, the council received another claim for housing and council tax from the same address from a woman who said Mr Kellaway was her landlord!
And when the property was checked, two more tenants said the Kellaways were their landlords, renting the rooms to them for cash deposits of £600 and a weekly cash rental of £240.
The address was later searched by council staff who discovered evidence of the undeclared bank accounts.
They also found Mrs Kellaway's diary, which stated that she and her 24-year-old daughter had travelled to Russia for the surgery.
A search of her computer revealed forged documents and other papers which were used for another false claim for housing benefit at an address in Richmond, South-West London. The documents also identified income from other rented properties across London.
One of the spreadsheets detailed an income of £98,000 a year through false claims to the benefit system.
Background checks on the couple found that Steven Kellaway had been convicted of benefit fraud in November 2007. But they still had plenty of assets. And if there was any caution marker against him, it was ineffective. And data matching hadn't exposed them. Benefits administrators have questions to answer.
His widow will be required to pay back £57,000 and all other assets deemed to be the proceeds of crime, which will be a very tidy sum.
Jail for £19k benefit cheat
Stephen Kilgallon from Newton-le-Willows, who dishonestly claimed £19,510 in benefits, has been sentenced to two consecutive four-month jail terms. He was also ordered pay back the overpayment.
He had failed to declare to St Helens Council and the the DWP that his partner lived with him.
This resulted in him receiving £8,720 housing benefit, £1,764 council tax benefit and £9,025 income support he was not entitled to.
He had failed to declare to St Helens Council and the the DWP that his partner lived with him.
This resulted in him receiving £8,720 housing benefit, £1,764 council tax benefit and £9,025 income support he was not entitled to.
£44k benefit thief spared jail
A DRIVER who fiddled £44,000 in benefits over six years by taking cash-in-hand jobs has been spared jail. Stephen Gooch was now working long hours as a taxi driver to pay back the money, Teesside Crown Court was told.
Gooch said that he began fiddling benefits when he split from his wife and three children and he went into debt to set up a new home.
The judge told Gooch that the sentencing guidelines urged a custodial sentence. But he said: “I am going to suspend the sentence of imprisonment because you are now working and paying back the money.” We're not told how much he's paid back or how long it will take. Doubtless a very long time and that's without interest.
Gooch, from Middlesbrough, was given a 32-week jail sentence suspended for two years with 200 hours’ unpaid work after he pleaded guilty to seven charges of making false representation for benefit between 2001 and 2007.
Gooch said that he began fiddling benefits when he split from his wife and three children and he went into debt to set up a new home.
The judge told Gooch that the sentencing guidelines urged a custodial sentence. But he said: “I am going to suspend the sentence of imprisonment because you are now working and paying back the money.” We're not told how much he's paid back or how long it will take. Doubtless a very long time and that's without interest.
Gooch, from Middlesbrough, was given a 32-week jail sentence suspended for two years with 200 hours’ unpaid work after he pleaded guilty to seven charges of making false representation for benefit between 2001 and 2007.
11 Jan 2010
Benefit thief's partner punished
A Mount Wise carpenter whose partner continued to claim £57,000 benefits after he moved in with her and her three children has walked free from Plymouth Crown Court.
Darren Lyon had pleaded guilty to allowing Michelle Joce to fail to notify the authorities that her circumstances had changed.
The prosecution claimed Lyon, a £400-a-week carpenter, must have realised by mid-2004 that Joce was claiming £1,000 a month in benefits. The debt was now being repaid at £40 a month, with £600 returned to date.
Jason Beal, for Lyon, said the children, aged 15, 13 and six, had been affected by their mother's imprisonment, though she had since been released. Lyon was the family bread-winner and its best hope of discharging some of the debt, he said. (So the relationship hadn't broken down, as Joce's defence had claimed.)
The judge said: "This type of offending is far too prevalent." He added that if Lyon was jailed, and lost his job, the disturbance to the children would be unduly harsh. He imposed a six-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered Lyon to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work and pay £250 prosecution costs.
Darren Lyon had pleaded guilty to allowing Michelle Joce to fail to notify the authorities that her circumstances had changed.
The prosecution claimed Lyon, a £400-a-week carpenter, must have realised by mid-2004 that Joce was claiming £1,000 a month in benefits. The debt was now being repaid at £40 a month, with £600 returned to date.
Jason Beal, for Lyon, said the children, aged 15, 13 and six, had been affected by their mother's imprisonment, though she had since been released. Lyon was the family bread-winner and its best hope of discharging some of the debt, he said. (So the relationship hadn't broken down, as Joce's defence had claimed.)
The judge said: "This type of offending is far too prevalent." He added that if Lyon was jailed, and lost his job, the disturbance to the children would be unduly harsh. He imposed a six-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered Lyon to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work and pay £250 prosecution costs.
10 Jan 2010
Nottingham crackdown on council tax dodgers
Nottingham city council is to crack down on those claiming a single person discount on their council tax bill when they do not live alone.
The local authority say they expect to identify 4,000 households where the discount is claimed improperly. The initiative could generate an additional £1.1m of income for the city council next year.
About 130,000 households in Nottingham pay council tax. The average charge per household is £1,108 and a single person discount will save £277 a year. Currently, more than 56,000 households claim a single person discount - an astonishing figure, not far short of half the total.
Previously, the city council has written to residents asking them to inform the authority if their status has changed, but there is a suspicion that some people did not complete the form honestly.
The council has now commissioned Experian and Northgate to review and update council tax accounts to identify those who are receiving discounts who are not entitled to them.
The council will pay the company £37.50 for each discount removed and it anticipates the total scheme will cost £150,000. The council says the project will not only boost income but by using an outside company it will be cheaper and more effective.
The firm has access to databases which the council does not use, such as credit reference information, which may reveal whether a resident is married or cohabiting. Where evidence emerges a person may have not properly declared their status they will be contacted directly.
Currently, the council is not planning to backdate charges (why not?) but will collect the full amount owed in the next financial year, which begins on April 1, 2010.
The local authority say they expect to identify 4,000 households where the discount is claimed improperly. The initiative could generate an additional £1.1m of income for the city council next year.
About 130,000 households in Nottingham pay council tax. The average charge per household is £1,108 and a single person discount will save £277 a year. Currently, more than 56,000 households claim a single person discount - an astonishing figure, not far short of half the total.
Previously, the city council has written to residents asking them to inform the authority if their status has changed, but there is a suspicion that some people did not complete the form honestly.
The council has now commissioned Experian and Northgate to review and update council tax accounts to identify those who are receiving discounts who are not entitled to them.
The council will pay the company £37.50 for each discount removed and it anticipates the total scheme will cost £150,000. The council says the project will not only boost income but by using an outside company it will be cheaper and more effective.
The firm has access to databases which the council does not use, such as credit reference information, which may reveal whether a resident is married or cohabiting. Where evidence emerges a person may have not properly declared their status they will be contacted directly.
Currently, the council is not planning to backdate charges (why not?) but will collect the full amount owed in the next financial year, which begins on April 1, 2010.
9 Jan 2010
Benefit cheat hid savings in bank accounts
Laura Jenner from Grimsby fiddled £11,117 by not declaring that she had savings of more than £50,000.
The scam went on for nearly five-and-a-half years. She was given 120 hours' unpaid work and must pay £100 costs.
The scam went on for nearly five-and-a-half years. She was given 120 hours' unpaid work and must pay £100 costs.
8 Jan 2010
Light sentence for £45k benefit fraud
Between January 1995 and April 2008, Jacqueline Needham claimed she was living alone. But she was sharing a house with her husband, David. During that time she claimed £42,094 in income support and £3,709 in council tax benefit to which she was not entitled. A pretty easy way to get a very useful sum of money.
Since January last year, Needham has been paying back £150 a month towards the dishonestly claimed income support and has now paid off £2,000 of the £42,094 she owes. She has also paid off about £800 of the £3,709 council tax overpayments.
Judge Pugsley merely sentenced her to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years. He said the fact that she had owned up about the council tax overpayments, which led to the discovery of the income support fraud, had influenced his decision.
Needham is now expected to remortgage her home in Atlow Road, Chaddesden, to help pay off the money. But that's just paying us back. Where's the punishment? Where's the deterrent?
Since January last year, Needham has been paying back £150 a month towards the dishonestly claimed income support and has now paid off £2,000 of the £42,094 she owes. She has also paid off about £800 of the £3,709 council tax overpayments.
Judge Pugsley merely sentenced her to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years. He said the fact that she had owned up about the council tax overpayments, which led to the discovery of the income support fraud, had influenced his decision.
Needham is now expected to remortgage her home in Atlow Road, Chaddesden, to help pay off the money. But that's just paying us back. Where's the punishment? Where's the deterrent?
Fraud & error at Stoke-on-Trent
Auditors have uncovered hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of fraud and bureaucratic errors in a routine sweep of council finances at Stoke-on-Trent, which recently announced a toughened blue badge regime.
The National Fraud Initiative checks, which are still ongoing, have already found more than £300,000 in fraud and administrative errors after checking data provided by the City Council.
The checks involve cross-referencing 13 sets of data, ranging from housing and council tax benefit claims to disabled blue badge permits, bus passes, market traders' licences and even details of council staff salaries and the authority's payments to creditors.
A report on the progress of the inquiries said the 835,580 separate records have turned up 12,243 matches which may require further investigation. The matches mean the same person may be claiming several different benefits.
So far, the council has investigated almost a third of the matched records, which have led to the discovery of mistakes and suspected fraudulent transactions totalling £309,306.
This figure includes overpayments by the council totalling £124,491 during 2008/09, including £94,053 paid mistakenly to the authority's creditors. The errors are all said to have happened during the transfer of the council's accounting service to a new computer system. Private residential care home overpayments, totalling £184,815, were also detected through the initiative, but these had already been identified by the council's own checking system and are being recovered.
The investigation has also found £3,827 was fraudulently claimed in council tax benefit, triggering plans to clamp down on loopholes in the system.
The council has also cancelled more than 1,000 bus passes and almost 500 blue badges in cases where the owner's death had not been reported to the authorities.
Councillor Paul Billington, audit committee chairman, called on fellow members to help the audit team by passing on any reports from residents of benefit fraud occurring in their wards.
He said: "I would urge all members to come forward with any information they have, so we can boost these fraud results and reduce the overpayments."
The National Fraud Initiative checks, which are still ongoing, have already found more than £300,000 in fraud and administrative errors after checking data provided by the City Council.
The checks involve cross-referencing 13 sets of data, ranging from housing and council tax benefit claims to disabled blue badge permits, bus passes, market traders' licences and even details of council staff salaries and the authority's payments to creditors.
A report on the progress of the inquiries said the 835,580 separate records have turned up 12,243 matches which may require further investigation. The matches mean the same person may be claiming several different benefits.
So far, the council has investigated almost a third of the matched records, which have led to the discovery of mistakes and suspected fraudulent transactions totalling £309,306.
This figure includes overpayments by the council totalling £124,491 during 2008/09, including £94,053 paid mistakenly to the authority's creditors. The errors are all said to have happened during the transfer of the council's accounting service to a new computer system. Private residential care home overpayments, totalling £184,815, were also detected through the initiative, but these had already been identified by the council's own checking system and are being recovered.
The investigation has also found £3,827 was fraudulently claimed in council tax benefit, triggering plans to clamp down on loopholes in the system.
The council has also cancelled more than 1,000 bus passes and almost 500 blue badges in cases where the owner's death had not been reported to the authorities.
Councillor Paul Billington, audit committee chairman, called on fellow members to help the audit team by passing on any reports from residents of benefit fraud occurring in their wards.
He said: "I would urge all members to come forward with any information they have, so we can boost these fraud results and reduce the overpayments."
7 Jan 2010
Contrasting sentences for benefit fraud
Edward Jeffers from Nechells failed to declare that he had been in paid employment for a number of years. He pleaded guilty to making fraudulent housing and council tax benefit claims worth £14,817 over a six-year period. Jeffers’ four month prison sentence was suspended for 12 months and he was ordered to do 200 hours’ unpaid work and pay £250 towards the council’s court costs. He was also told to repay the money he fraudulently claimed. Failure to do so will result in civil proceedings being taken against him.
Meanwhile in Luton benefit thief Abdul Munim Mojnu has been convicted of fraudulently receiving £1,418 in benefits, which he will now have to repay to the Council. For this relatively small amount he received a 12 month Community Order with 100 hours unpaid work and was ordered to pay £110 towards the Council’s costs.
Meanwhile in Luton benefit thief Abdul Munim Mojnu has been convicted of fraudulently receiving £1,418 in benefits, which he will now have to repay to the Council. For this relatively small amount he received a 12 month Community Order with 100 hours unpaid work and was ordered to pay £110 towards the Council’s costs.
Lambeth benefit fraudsters sentenced
Joachim Kawesa, from Lambeth, who lied about his earnings to claim £17,888 in housing and council tax benefit he was not entitled to, has been jailed for eight months, reports the South London Press.
Lambeth council and the DWP brought successful prosecutions against two other benefit fraudsters in December.
Helen Koroma, from Stockwell, admitted four counts of being knowingly concerned in fraudulent activity with a view to obtain tax credits worth £56,000 and was oddly just given a suspended prison sentence.
Julie Kenna, from Brixton, admitted obtaining a money transfer by deception, failing to notify a change in circumstances and three counts of making false statements to obtain £43,000 in benefits. But she too just received a suspended prison sentence. What's the point?
Lambeth council and the DWP brought successful prosecutions against two other benefit fraudsters in December.
Helen Koroma, from Stockwell, admitted four counts of being knowingly concerned in fraudulent activity with a view to obtain tax credits worth £56,000 and was oddly just given a suspended prison sentence.
Julie Kenna, from Brixton, admitted obtaining a money transfer by deception, failing to notify a change in circumstances and three counts of making false statements to obtain £43,000 in benefits. But she too just received a suspended prison sentence. What's the point?
6 Jan 2010
Light sentence for £44k benefit frauds
A Zimbabwean nurse plundered the public purse of £44,000 in benefits after working in two Leeds care homes – while claiming she was too sick to walk properly.
Rudo Murdizi, who now lives in Leeds, arrived in the UK from Zimbabwe in 2002 when she began working at a care home as an agency nurse. She was granted leave to remain in the UK and claimed for income support even though she was already working.
Murdizi then completed further forms for housing and council tax benefits as well as disability allowance – all while continuing to work. When she applied for disability allowance in August 2003, Murdizi declared she was HIV positive as well as suffering from cancer. On the form she listed a stream of ailments including painful legs and needing a stick to walk as well as losing balance and only being able to stumble around the house.
But she was working 28 hours a week.
She then filled out a disability allowance review form in June 2004 where she said she had skin cancer and stated she spent almost all her time in bed. But just shortly after this she got a second job at another care home.
On a further disability form in 2005, Murdizi stated she hardly went out alone and vomited when leaving the house.
When interviewed about her benefits claims in 2006, she said she didn't understand the forms and that they were completed by someone else.
But in court she admitted five charges of making false statements from June 2003 to May 2006. The court heard she has already repaid £5,000.
Simon Alexander, mitigating, said she is currently studying a higher diploma in nursing at the University of Bradford ... and has suffered from health problems!
He added: "The claims for housing benefit and income support were filled in at a time when she was receiving hospital treatment for cancer. They were filled in by a social worker at the hospital and the second time by the benefits worker at Leeds City Council. She pleads guilty in that she knows she was working."
Murdizi was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, as well as a supervision requirement for two years.
Rudo Murdizi, who now lives in Leeds, arrived in the UK from Zimbabwe in 2002 when she began working at a care home as an agency nurse. She was granted leave to remain in the UK and claimed for income support even though she was already working.
Murdizi then completed further forms for housing and council tax benefits as well as disability allowance – all while continuing to work. When she applied for disability allowance in August 2003, Murdizi declared she was HIV positive as well as suffering from cancer. On the form she listed a stream of ailments including painful legs and needing a stick to walk as well as losing balance and only being able to stumble around the house.
But she was working 28 hours a week.
She then filled out a disability allowance review form in June 2004 where she said she had skin cancer and stated she spent almost all her time in bed. But just shortly after this she got a second job at another care home.
On a further disability form in 2005, Murdizi stated she hardly went out alone and vomited when leaving the house.
When interviewed about her benefits claims in 2006, she said she didn't understand the forms and that they were completed by someone else.
But in court she admitted five charges of making false statements from June 2003 to May 2006. The court heard she has already repaid £5,000.
Simon Alexander, mitigating, said she is currently studying a higher diploma in nursing at the University of Bradford ... and has suffered from health problems!
He added: "The claims for housing benefit and income support were filled in at a time when she was receiving hospital treatment for cancer. They were filled in by a social worker at the hospital and the second time by the benefits worker at Leeds City Council. She pleads guilty in that she knows she was working."
Murdizi was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, as well as a supervision requirement for two years.
5 Jan 2010
Benefit fraud increases in Scarborough
Nearly 500 people have been reported to Scarborough Council for housing and council tax benefit fraud over the past year since April, reports Scarborough Evening News
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The figures are a significant increase on last year – 480 cases have been referred to the authority's counter fraud investigation team since April this year, compared with 374 in the same period in 2008.
Of these 65 have either already received sanctions, or have them pending – sanctions include prosecution, fines and cautions.
In addition to the sanctioned cases, referred cases, which are not subject to criminal investigation but which show irregularities, stand at almost 100. Of these, 35 have resulted in terminations or changes in entitlement to housing and council tax benefit. The crackdown has so far netted £81,095.
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The figures are a significant increase on last year – 480 cases have been referred to the authority's counter fraud investigation team since April this year, compared with 374 in the same period in 2008.
Of these 65 have either already received sanctions, or have them pending – sanctions include prosecution, fines and cautions.
In addition to the sanctioned cases, referred cases, which are not subject to criminal investigation but which show irregularities, stand at almost 100. Of these, 35 have resulted in terminations or changes in entitlement to housing and council tax benefit. The crackdown has so far netted £81,095.
Failed asylum seeker was benefit thief
An interesting report in London's Evening Standard, about a Palestinian asylum seeker who lived rent free in a council flat while apparently earning £75,000 a year as a carpenter and builder.
Fahd El-Hajj pocketed £43,500 in a four-year swindle at the taxpayers' expense after moving to Britain from Palestine. He arrived in Britain in 1999 and in January 2004 made a bogus claim for housing benefit at his home in Shoot Up Hill, Camden, on the grounds that he had no money.
A month later he was refused asylum but failed to declare his position to the authorities because it would have meant losing the handouts. Despite computer databases, the swindle went undetected until September 2007, when he moved out and a policeman became the new tenant - and he was only caught because the officer discovered £10,500 cash in brown envelopes stuffed inside a drawer which El-Hajj had completely forgotten about! It then emerged around £150,000 had passed through several of his bank accounts in just two years. Do carpenters and bulders have "several bank account" and forget about £10,000 in notes?
El-Hajj decided to admit five counts of false accounting and was remanded in custody before he is sentenced later this month.
Fahd El-Hajj pocketed £43,500 in a four-year swindle at the taxpayers' expense after moving to Britain from Palestine. He arrived in Britain in 1999 and in January 2004 made a bogus claim for housing benefit at his home in Shoot Up Hill, Camden, on the grounds that he had no money.
A month later he was refused asylum but failed to declare his position to the authorities because it would have meant losing the handouts. Despite computer databases, the swindle went undetected until September 2007, when he moved out and a policeman became the new tenant - and he was only caught because the officer discovered £10,500 cash in brown envelopes stuffed inside a drawer which El-Hajj had completely forgotten about! It then emerged around £150,000 had passed through several of his bank accounts in just two years. Do carpenters and bulders have "several bank account" and forget about £10,000 in notes?
El-Hajj decided to admit five counts of false accounting and was remanded in custody before he is sentenced later this month.
Data matching catches Redditch benefit thief
Donna Harris-Morris has been ordered to carry out a supervised 12 month Community Order for fraudulently claiming benefits totalling £3,651 between October 2008 and May 2009.
Mrs Harris-Morris claimed Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit in September 2008 on the basis she lived alone and was working part time. But a data match identified that shehad failed to declare she was receiving Tax Credits.
She had also failed to declare that her partner had moved in to live with her in October 2008 and that she had changed employment, with an increase in work hours and pay.
Magistrates decided she should also repay all of the fraudulently claimed benefit through a compensation order as well as £150 towards the prosecution costs.
Mrs Harris-Morris claimed Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit in September 2008 on the basis she lived alone and was working part time. But a data match identified that shehad failed to declare she was receiving Tax Credits.
She had also failed to declare that her partner had moved in to live with her in October 2008 and that she had changed employment, with an increase in work hours and pay.
Magistrates decided she should also repay all of the fraudulently claimed benefit through a compensation order as well as £150 towards the prosecution costs.
Stoke toughens blue badge regime
Hundreds of blue badges belonging to people who have died have been cancelled in a council crackdown to stop them being used by relatives or sold on, reports The Sentinel.
The blue badges had not been returned to Stoke-on-Trent City Council, despite the badge holders being dead. So relatives were contacted by council officers - and now 494 badges have been returned or cancelled.
The figure does not include blue badges which had already been sent back by loved ones. It is not known how many of the 494 badges were being used illegally.
Councillor John Daniels, said: "We have strengthened our procedures to ensure relatives or the person registering a death is made aware of the need to return the blue badge. We have written to relatives of blue badge holders who have died to ask them to return the badge. Those that have not been returned have been cancelled."
News of the crackdown comes as Sentinel inquiries revealed more people are being refused blue badges by the city council. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show 241 of the 3,830 applications between January and the end of September last year were refused, compared with 233 refusals out of 5,381 applications in 2008.
In 2008, 79 of the refusals were overturned on appeal, with 35 overturned in the first nine months of last year.
At present, about 16,000 people have blue badges in Stoke-on-Trent.
Mr Daniels added: "In the middle of 2006 we stopped accepting applications supported by a family doctor. We introduced a new system of assessment by independent occupational health professionals."
The blue badges had not been returned to Stoke-on-Trent City Council, despite the badge holders being dead. So relatives were contacted by council officers - and now 494 badges have been returned or cancelled.
The figure does not include blue badges which had already been sent back by loved ones. It is not known how many of the 494 badges were being used illegally.
Councillor John Daniels, said: "We have strengthened our procedures to ensure relatives or the person registering a death is made aware of the need to return the blue badge. We have written to relatives of blue badge holders who have died to ask them to return the badge. Those that have not been returned have been cancelled."
News of the crackdown comes as Sentinel inquiries revealed more people are being refused blue badges by the city council. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show 241 of the 3,830 applications between January and the end of September last year were refused, compared with 233 refusals out of 5,381 applications in 2008.
In 2008, 79 of the refusals were overturned on appeal, with 35 overturned in the first nine months of last year.
At present, about 16,000 people have blue badges in Stoke-on-Trent.
Mr Daniels added: "In the middle of 2006 we stopped accepting applications supported by a family doctor. We introduced a new system of assessment by independent occupational health professionals."
4 Jan 2010
Oxfordshire councils announce benefit fraud totals
More than £250,000 is being recovered from fraudsters following a crackdown by Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire district councils.
The Vale is clawing back more than £154,000 in benefit overpayments, and has issued 24 cautions, three penalty fines and successfully prosecuted eight people since April.
South Oxfordshire is set to recover more than £109,000 in overpayments and has issued 26 cautions, six penalty fines and successfully prosecuted five people.
The money is being recovered through deductions to wages and taken out of future benefits.
The councils published a list of those it successfully prosecuted, including: Jane Forbes, 60, of Dorchester Close, Abingdon, a cleaner for the NHS who failed to report a change in circumstances, leading to her being overpaid £2,075 in council tax benefit and £6,334 in housing benefit. She was given a community punishment order of 120 hours and forced to pay £150 costs.
Julie Dodsworth, 38, of Alder Close, Abingdon, who failed to report a change of circumstances when she started working for Oxfordshire County Council. She was overpaid council tax benefit of £941 and £4,033 in housing benefit. She was sentenced to a 60-hour community punishment order and £100 costs.
Marty Arrow-Cumbe, 19, a former police community support officer from Abingdon, who was caught receiving £881 in housing benefit overpayments. He was sentenced to a 12-month community punishment order of 100 hours’ unpaid work and £200 costs.
Martin Clark, formerly of The Murren, Wallingford, failed to declare he had found employment and was overpaid £4,031 in housing benefit and £581 council tax. He was given a 12-month community punishment order for 60 hours’ work and £200 costs.
Janet Ingram, of Lynmouth Road, Didcot, did not declare income from a second job and was overpaid £10,490 in housing benefit and £3,153 council tax benefit. She was sentenced to a 300-hour community punishment order and ordered to pay £200 costs.
Hayley Clayson, of The Meer, Benson, was overpaid £1,974 in housing benefit and £576 in council tax benefit after failing to declare she was receiving tax credits. She was given a six month conditional discharge with no costs.
Mary Mileham, of Panters Road, Cholsey, did not tell authorities she had found employment and was overpaid £1,004 in housing benefit and £268 in council tax benefit. She was given a 12 month community punishment order of 100 hours and £100 costs.
The Vale is clawing back more than £154,000 in benefit overpayments, and has issued 24 cautions, three penalty fines and successfully prosecuted eight people since April.
South Oxfordshire is set to recover more than £109,000 in overpayments and has issued 26 cautions, six penalty fines and successfully prosecuted five people.
The money is being recovered through deductions to wages and taken out of future benefits.
The councils published a list of those it successfully prosecuted, including: Jane Forbes, 60, of Dorchester Close, Abingdon, a cleaner for the NHS who failed to report a change in circumstances, leading to her being overpaid £2,075 in council tax benefit and £6,334 in housing benefit. She was given a community punishment order of 120 hours and forced to pay £150 costs.
Julie Dodsworth, 38, of Alder Close, Abingdon, who failed to report a change of circumstances when she started working for Oxfordshire County Council. She was overpaid council tax benefit of £941 and £4,033 in housing benefit. She was sentenced to a 60-hour community punishment order and £100 costs.
Marty Arrow-Cumbe, 19, a former police community support officer from Abingdon, who was caught receiving £881 in housing benefit overpayments. He was sentenced to a 12-month community punishment order of 100 hours’ unpaid work and £200 costs.
Martin Clark, formerly of The Murren, Wallingford, failed to declare he had found employment and was overpaid £4,031 in housing benefit and £581 council tax. He was given a 12-month community punishment order for 60 hours’ work and £200 costs.
Janet Ingram, of Lynmouth Road, Didcot, did not declare income from a second job and was overpaid £10,490 in housing benefit and £3,153 council tax benefit. She was sentenced to a 300-hour community punishment order and ordered to pay £200 costs.
Hayley Clayson, of The Meer, Benson, was overpaid £1,974 in housing benefit and £576 in council tax benefit after failing to declare she was receiving tax credits. She was given a six month conditional discharge with no costs.
Mary Mileham, of Panters Road, Cholsey, did not tell authorities she had found employment and was overpaid £1,004 in housing benefit and £268 in council tax benefit. She was given a 12 month community punishment order of 100 hours and £100 costs.
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