Benefits thief caught through her facebook

A young mum ended up in court for benefit fraud after investigators used Facebook to build a case against her.

Bristol City Council officers started to investigate mum-of- three Tara Denley, 22, after an anonymous tip-off from one of her online 'friends'.

Accessing her profile page on the social networking site, they discovered she claimed nearly £6,000 of benefits she was not entitled to.

On Wednesday, Facebook announced it was to simplify privacy settings because members had said they were unsure about how public their information had become.

At Bristol Magistrates' Court on the same day, Denley pleaded guilty to failing to notify the city council about a change of circumstances in that her partner David Sugrue was living with her at council property in Wharncliffe Close, Hengrove.

She also pleaded guilty to failing to inform the Department of Work and Pensions of the same offence.

Denley was given a six-month community order with supervision. She was also ordered to pay Bristol City Council £500 compensation and costs of £500.

But speaking after the case she told the Evening Post: "I understand that they have to carry out investigations but I feel violated by the way they have accessed Facebook.

"They had pictures of my kids on their file but my Facebook account is set up so only my friends can see them. I don't want those pictures to be seen by anybody because there are paedophiles out there.

"The solicitor at court said it was the first time she had seen Facebook used to gather information and said I could ring up housing if I wanted to make a complaint which I will do.

"I only pleaded guilty because they used everything on the site and turned it against me. I just wanted to get it over and back to looking after my three children."

During the case Jane Astbury, prosecuting, an investigation started after an anonymous tip-off on the council's 'hot-line' in January, 2009.

She said it was discovered that between July 3, 2008 and March 31, 2009, Denley had been overpaid £3,088.92 in housing benefit, £2,350.85 in income support and £507.99 in council tax credits.

Miss Astbury said that investigators accessed her Facebook account to help build a case.

She said: "A search was made on social networking site Facebook that established the defendant had given birth and that the child had her partner's surname. The site also indicated that she was engaged to David Sugrue.

"The birth certificate was obtained and the defendant's partner's name was listed as the father.

"Several posts on Facebook indicated the couple were together and in a relationship."

When officers interviewed her Denley admitted she had been engaged to Sugrue since December 2008 but said that he spent just two nights a week at her property.

She said he did see the children every day but claimed that he didn't keep any clothes at the house and assumed that he stayed in his car on other nights.

Denley said they had made joint credit applications because it was the only way she could get a car.

Sentencing Denley, now of Torrington Avenue, Knowle, chair of magistrates Ian Brailey told her: "The council loses out again and the rest of us, that is the taxpayer, have to make up the rest."

Jail for £76k benefit thief

A Norfolk mother who falsely claimed more than £76,000 in benefits after failing to declare she was living with a partner, was last night starting a 20-week jail sentence.

Sarah Riley, 34, falsely claimed the benefits over a six year period from 2001 to 2007. Norwich Crown Court heard that she obtained a total of £64,433 in income support and £10,225 in housing benefit as well as £1,583 in council tax benefit.

Matthew Edwards prosecuting said that Riley's claim had not been fraudulent from the outset but she had failed to notify the Department of Work and Pensions when she had started living with her new partner in 2001.

The court heard that Riley had now split up from her partner and was making efforts to repay some of the money and had paid back more than a £1,000.

Riley of Cremer Street, Sheringham, admitted 10 counts of benefit fraud.

Jailing her for 20 weeks, judge Alasdair Darroch, told her he accepted that prison would be devastating for her but said: “This is a very large sum of public money and there was dishonesty going on for a long period of years.”

He accepted her relationship with her partner had not been stable but said: “I'm unable to avoid a prison sentence.”

Katharine Moore, for Riley said she was of previous good character and her claim had not started out as a false one.

She said the relationship Riley had with her partner was not a traditional one where she received any financial support.

“She was very desperate. She had a very difficult time.”

Miss Moore said the relationship was now over and Riley was now getting the benefits she was entitled to.

“She is doing her level best to repay the cash.” 

•  And there you have it. Financially she can't lose.

£31k benefit thief lived with partner

A Kidderminster woman has been given a six month suspended prison sentence and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work after admitting defrauding the benefits system out of nearly £32,000.

Roberta Barnes was claiming income support and housing and council tax benefits, on the basis that she was a single parent and had no source of income, when in fact she had failed to declare her partner was living with her.

Her prison sentence was suspended for two years and she has been forced to comply with a two year supervision order.

The case was jointly investigated by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Wyre Forest District Council, after an anonymous referral was made to the council.

Miss Barnes appeared at Hereford Crown Court on May 17 when she pleaded guilty to two counts of benefit fraud after dishonestly failing to notify the DWP and the district council of a change in her circumstances after her partner had returned to the family home.

As a result, between February 25, 2004 and May 9, 2008 Barnes was paid £16,103.66 in housing benefit and council tax benefit and £15,88426 in income support to which she was not entitled.

The overpayment will also have to be re-paid to the council and DWP.

Benefits cheat exposed after newspaper story

A married woman has been convicted of benefit fraud after a story about her in which she claimed to be a single parent appeared in her local paper.

Cheryl Dove complained to the Hull Daily Mail that the city council had failed to collect flood-damaged furniture from her home.

But the 34-year-old landed herself in hot water after telling a Mail reporter that she was a single mother.

She was in fact married and after the story appeared, readers who knew the truth complained to the Department of Work and Pensions.

The mother-of-two pleaded guilty to benefit fraud at Hull Crown Court.

She had falsely claimed housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support between 2003 and 2007.

Dove admitted having falsely over-claimed payments totalling £20,148, although the DWP is seeking to recoup £37,000 and is deducting this from her benefits.

Judge Simon Jack gave her an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered her to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.

• You would think the DWP would check whether someone claiming to be single was married. Apparently not.

Tamworth benefit thief sentenced

Angela Cartier, from Wilnecote, failed to declare that she was in paid employment from December 10, 2007. This resulted in her illegally claiming more than £3,500 in housing and council tax benefit.

According to a council spokesman, despite three invites from the council to discuss the issue under caution, Cartier failed to attend. As a result prosecution went ahead without Cartier being interviewed.

She attended Tamworth Magistrates Court on May 12 and was given a 12-month community supervision order which includes 60 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month supervision order to attend appointments with the Probation Service.

She was ordered to repay the full overpayment and court costs of £250.

Councillor Robert Pritchard said: "Benefit fraud is a serious crime and we will prosecute offenders".

Jail for £19k benefit thief

Susanne Rees, from Bryntirion, appeared at Bridgend Magistrates’ Count for sentencing after previously admitting eight charges relating to false claims of housing benefit, council tax and second adult rebate.

The prosecution was brought by Bridgend County Borough Council after an investigation triggered by data-matching.

A spokesman for the council said: “Mrs Rees was in court initially on April 12 when she pleaded guilty to all eight charges.

“The court required a pre-sentence report so her sentencing hearing took place on Monday, May 10, where she was sentenced to 60 days for each charge, to run concurrently.

“She will also have to pay the money she fraudulently claimed back.”

Explaining the circumstances behind the 54-year-old’s fraudulent claims, the spokesman said: “On August 25, 2003, she made a claim for housing benefit and council tax benefit with the council.

“She declared she was working for Rentokil Initial UK Cleaning as a cleaner and that she was paid 10 hours per week, for which she was paid wages per fortnight.

“She also later claimed to be a sole claimant and outlined a decrease in her wages.

“In September 2009 an investigation was initiated due to a data match that revealed Mrs Rees had been employed as a domestic service assistant at Abertawe Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust since May 8, 1991.

“As a result of her deliberate fraud, she had received £15,178.77 in housing benefit for the period and £3,918.69 for council tax benefit – a total of £19,097.46.”

Rees had no previous convictions.

• The data matching took a long time!

Councillor criticises benefit fraud sentence

A benefits cheat who helped himself to £9,250 in state handouts has been ordered to pay it all back.

Simeon Olaleye, 64, of Audley Way, Basildon, falsely claimed £250 in council tax benefit and £9,000 in pension credit.

He failed to declare a second civil service pension for himself and a civil service pension for his wife, was sentenced to a 24-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £460 at Basildon Magistrates’ Court.

He was prosecuted by Basildon Council on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions.

Phil Turner, the council’s cabinet member for resources, said he felt the fraudster should have been sent to 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.
  
  Everyone convicted of benefit fraud who doesn't go to prison 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.

National Fraud Initiative catches more

The Audit Commission has exposed £215million of fraud in 2008/09, reports the Express.

The new figure is up more than 50 per cent from the £140million identified in 2006/07.

Fake claims included £62million cheated by people falsely claiming the single person discount on council tax and 16,535 cases of disabled parking badges being used by those who were not entitled to them.

Other scams saw £32million overpaid in housing benefit while £84million was tracked down in pension fraud.

The details were uncovered after a huge nationwide operation to match benefit, tax, housing and employment data.

The National Fraud Initiative compared information from 1,300 organisations, including councils, police, the NHS and nearly 100 private companies, to uncover thousands of cases of wrongly-obtained benefits, pensions and jobs.

The initiative brings together data on a secure website, allowing the authorities to carry out their own matches to find possible fraud overpayments. Since its launch in 1996, it has helped detect wrongful payments totalling £664million.

Checks in 2008/09 resulted in 269 prosecutions, 308 administrative penalties and 441 cautions.

Around 256 members of staff were dismissed or resigned, 16,535 blue disabled parking badges and 21,534 concessionary travel permits were cancelled and 97 social housing properties were recovered.

Cases included a Salford householder who claimed £2,200 in single person’s council tax discount since 2001 despite living with a partner. Data-matching also helped South Tyneside Council identify a man who continued to claim his step-grandfather’s pension for years after his death, netting £30,000. And Yorkshire Ambulance matched payroll and visa data to uncover an employee who was paid more than £190,000 despite having no right to work in the UK.

htp: Dave

Reply to a benefits practitioner

Oldchimer asked yesterday, What is the point of sending benefit thieves to prison at taxpayers' expense? Answer: we need deterrent sentences. The 3,000+ investigators cannot properly police the 5m+ claimants. So we need punishments to deter offenders. Whether it's 3,000, 4,000, 5,000, or even 6,000 investigators is irrelevant - they are still swamped. As Oldchimer says, "Every investigator, both DWP and LA, knows that they are only scratching the surface of the fraud that goes on".

Oldchimer regrets that the public at large do not see benefit fraud as a serious issue. On the contrary, I think many of them are offended by it - as witness the feedback doled out to Labour canvassers on doorsteps. The DWP hotline gets nearly a quarter of a million referrals a year.

In other respects, this blog agrees with Oldchimer's views.

Investigators may know that they are only scratching the surface of the benefit fraud that goes on, but the public at large doesn't, and governments have been happy to keep it that way.

As another practitioner writes,  "I work in enforcement trying to catch people every day and we're losing".

The aim of this blog, therefore, is to help to bring this inconvenient truth before a wider audience, and to debate what should be done about it. Thank you, Oldchimer.

£50k benefit frauds - different sentences

A 38 year-old Upper Gornal mother, who fiddled over £55,000 in benefits sobbed as she was jailed for eight months at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Judge Helen Hughes told Lisa Roberts, of Eve Lane, she had defrauded the Department of Work and Pensions out of a "huge" amount of money.

"You knew what you was doing was wrong and that you should have told the truth to the benefits agency," she added."You have benefitted to the tune of £55,000."

Roberts admitted two charges of failing to notify the Department of a change in her circumstances.

Jas Mann prosecuting said Roberts claimed she was a single, unemployed parent and, as a result, she was paid Income Support and Council tax and Housing benefits.

But information was received that she had reconciled with her husband and was living at the family home.

There were "multiple" frauds on the Department but, the court was told, it was accepted the initial claim by Roberts for benefits had been genuine.

Tariq Mahmood defending said Roberts who was of previous good character accepted she should have informed the authorities her husband had moved back into the house.

Meanwhile, a benefits cheat from Ascot who took £51,152 from the state and lived in a plush apartment yards from the racecourse, avoided prison on Friday.

Elizabeta Diminic-Parmar, 33, was handed a 12 month sentence, suspended for 12 months, and 250 hours of unpaid work at a Reading Crown Court sentencing.

The Croatian had failed to declare to the Royal Borough about her circumstances over a near four year period from July 2004 to May 2008, in order to claim housing and council tax benefit, as well as income support cash.

The court heard how she once rented a place at the Grand Regency Heights development in Burleigh Road, where some flats cost more than £2,000 a month.

Diminic-Parmar had also sent some of the money back to her home country Croatia, which she had left in 1995 and used it to pay off other loans and bills she had racked up.

In sentencing, recorder Peter Ferris, said he would not send her to prison, as she was of good character and it would have a negative impact on her three young children.

She is currently paying back £30 a month.

• She has run rings round the system. We will never get the money back.

A benefits practitioner writes

Comment from a benefits practitioner:

It's an interesting subject Benefit Fraud, I continually read articles from people who say that Benefit Thieves should be hung, drawn and quartered, that's as may be, but what's the point of putting these people behind bars? They have had the tax payer's money, and if they reside in HMP who pays for it.... the tax payer! I was investigating benefit fraud from 1984 to 2001, since then I have prosecuted them, and I can tell you that each year the number I successfully prosecute increases. The DWP may only have 3,000 investigators but every Local Authority employs investigators too,some unit are large 20+ staff whilst others small as in 1. Every investigator, both DWP and LA, knows that they are only scratching the surface of the fraud that goes on. I think it would be fair to say that there are two major issues about the numbers investigated:

• Firstly resources, in this time of recession LAs are coming under increasing pressure to reduce staffing levels but when your resources are stretched and insufficient to start with, more fraud goes un-investigated.
  
  
• The second issue to the fact that the public on large do not see Benefit Fraud as a serious crime, it takes billions from the tax payer each year, but those tax payers also refuse to 'grass' on offenders. There has to be a serious look at changing the publics perspective and encourage them to contact the authorities.

So what would I recommend..... invest in more highly trained investigators, run an advertising campaign aimed at changing the public's perspective, actively encouraging them to come forward with information, point out that those billions that are stolen would build x number of hospitals, train y number of doctors, nurses teachers or policemen. (I know this works because I have done small presentations using local information.) Increase activity of computer matching schemes by adding data from more private and public organisations.

As to the sentencing, not only reduce benefits if caught, but ensure that its repaid and put the perpetrator to work in the community giving something back to the community they stole from.

There's much here to agree and disagree with. I'll respond tomorrow.

Benefit thief hid his pension

A west Cumbrian man has admitted over claiming nearly £10,000 in benefits because he did not tell authorities about his pension.

Gordon Stewart, from Workington, pleaded guilty to failing to inform Allerdale council of his true income when he appeared at West Allerdale Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard how Stewart stated on a benefit application form in October 2006 that his only sources of income were incapacity benefit, carers allowance and disability living allowance. As a result of this information he was awarded housing and council tax benefits.

But, following investigations, it was revealed that he had been receiving an occupational pension since March 1993 and the payment was still continuing.

Because the income had not been declared to the council, Stewart was interviewed under caution by the authority’s benefit fraud officers on May 6 and August 4, 2009. (Take it nice and slow, guys.)

During the interviews, he confirmed that he was in receipt of an occupational pension and that he failed to declare the bank account into which the pension was paid. He also told the officers that his wife was working at town-centre shop Bywise.

The council has made arrangements to recover the money – £9,861.53 in housing and council tax benefits.

Stewart was given a community order, requiring him to be under supervision for 12 months, given a four-month curfew between 8pm and 8am and ordered to pay £100 court costs.

He is also required to attend a 24 session alcohol treatment programme.

• 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.
  
  Everyone convicted of benefit fraud who doesn't go to prison 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.

Lotto winner swindled benefits

A man has been jailed after continuing to claim benefits to care for his elderly father, despite winning £164,000 on the National Lottery.

David Smith received £21,700 in income support, council tax and housing benefit between March 2005 and April last year.

But the 51-year-old, of Hitchen Drive, Dukinfield, failed to declare a bank account in which he paid in lottery winnings of £164,633 in March 2005.

It was later revealed that the money had been used to buy various items for him and his father, including holidays and a car.

Smith claimed his father had bought the winning ticket but that he had collected the money as, due to ‘problems with identification’, his dad had been unable to open a bank account of his own.

He provided some receipts but around £20,000 still remains unaccounted for, Tameside magistrates’ court heard.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to declare the change in his circumstances and a further five charges of failing to declare the information on his application forms for benefits.

Prosecuting for Tameside council, Loraine Kenny said: “Mr Smith made a claim for the three benefits on March 16, 2005, based on being a carer for his father.

“Following a computer check the council became aware of a bank account that Mr Smith had not declared to the council.

“An investigation followed and it was discovered that Mr Smith had collected winnings in the sum of £164,633 on March 17, 2005, a fact he failed to declare on the Department for Work and Pensions application and to Tameside council.”

The court heard that Smith had already started making arrangements to pay back the money. His father Thomas died in 2007.

Mark Harper, defending, said: “He used the winnings to make his father’s last 12 months to two years as good as he could. Holidays, a vehicle, various things. When his father passed away in 2007, funeral expenses and the like.

“That was always treated as money that is non-declarable because the money in fact was not his. But from the outside world he pays that into the bank account in his name, he collects it on authority from his father.”

Smith was sentenced to two months in prison and was warned that it could have been three but for his early guilty plea.

An appeal was immediately lodged with magistrates following the hearing but an application for bail was refused.

• htp Nigel, who points out that he'll be out in a month.

Combatting benefit fraud

Benefit fraud has moved up the political agenda. Several politicians report dissatisfaction on the doorsteps that people are getting benefits who shouldn't be - though the politicians call it "welfare reform". Taxpayers understand that they are paying for this. Even the last government put benefit fraud at around £1.1bn a year. The true figure is likely to be over £3bn.

I wrote earlier this week about a reader who had reported a case of benefit fraud but it hadn't been investigated.

The DWP has only some 3,000 investigators for 5.8m claimants. No wonder so few cases reach the courts.

More investigators are not the answer. The system is clogged up already, and the coalition has said that the state is now in an age of austerity.

So effort has to concentrate on deterring people from committing fraud in the first place until IDS can restructure and simplify welfare to make fraud harder and less tempting.

Punishments have to be stern and visible. Too often benefit thieves just have to make paltry repayments over many years, and any penalty element is minimal.

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.

Court sentencing needs to be significantly tougher.

Everyone convicted of benefit fraud who doesn't go to prison 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.

Sentences should be related to the length of the offence, as well as to the amount.

Administrative penalties will have to remain less stern than this new court sentencing regime (otherwise everyone will opt for court), but the punishment must still be visible and stern. All the financial elements should stay in place. But people should know that if they are found guilty in court they will also go to prison or do unpaid work.

Sterner, visible punishments will have two effects.

• First, the political. Voters have been complaining on the doorsteps about people receiving benefit who shouldn't. The coalition will score if voters see miscreants punished visibly.
   
• Secondly, the financial. Realistically, we will probably not see significantly more money flow in from confiscations and stiffer repayments. But the deterrent effect may lead to fewer fraudulent claims, and to some fraudulent claims being quietly discontinued.

Data matching catches £43k benefit thief

A Hextable benefit cheat who was found guilty of a £43,000 benefit scam has been ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and handed a suspended prison sentence by Maidstone Crown Court.

Forty-nine year old Kim Pick pleaded guilty to four charges relating to dishonestly claiming benefits. The scam came to light after a routine investigation, carried out jointly by Sevenoaks District Council and the DWP, which showed an unusual increase in interest on her bank statements.

When interviewed Mrs Pick stated that she had thought that she did not have to declare that she inherited a substantial sum of money because it was supposed to be passed onto her children. Mrs Pick failed to provide any evidence that this was the case, and her bank statements showed that the money was held in accounts in her name.

As a result of her actions Mrs Pick received £24,322.16 in Income Support, £15,621.65 in Housing Benefit and £3,691.42 in Council Tax Benefit which she was not entitled to, an amount totalling £43,635.

At Court, Mrs Pick was ordered to do 180 hours of community punishment and was given a two year suspended prison sentence. If Mrs Pick appears before the court again in the next two years and is found guilty of a crime, she will serve 24 weeks in prison for this offence.

Mrs Pick has paid back all the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit and the Department for Work and Pensions is seeking the repayment of the Social Security benefits.

Jail for £63k benefit fraud

A Chiswick woman has been jailed for six months for benefit fraud.

Anne Wicks was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud amounting to almost £64,000.

The London Borough of Hounslow’s Fraud Unit worked on the case with investigators from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after it came to light that Wicks had failed to notify both the council and the DWP that she had owned two properties, one in London and one in Turkey.

Wicks also had numerous bank accounts, including one off-shore, that she had not declared, and the capital in these accounts was in excess of the prescribed limits.

As a result of her actions, Wicks was prosecuted for falsely claiming a total of £63,906.81 in Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Income Support and Pension Credit between November 2001 and March 2009.

She is now required to repay the benefit she falsely claimed, and was sentenced to serve six months in custody.

On sentencing, the judge commented that the crime had been committed over seven and a half years simply to fund a certain lifestyle, rather than trying to rectify a desperate situation. In fact, not long after this crime came to light, Wicks made a further false claim for pension credits.

£34k benefit thief jailed

A benefits cheat has started a 20 week prison sentence after falsely claiming over £34,200 in benefits.

Gina McQueen (31) of Westbourne failed to report that she had a partner living with her who was working. She had continued to claim as a lone parent with three children.

She did not tell either Chichester District Council or the Department for Work and Pensions of the change in her living arrangements.

Her dishonesty meant she was overpaid Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. This amounted to £34,253 for just under a three year period, starting in November 2005.

McQueen was sentenced at Chichester Crown Court on Friday 16 April.

She had already pleaded guilty on Friday 19 March to five charges relating to dishonesty, making false representations to obtain benefits, and failing to notify changes in her circumstances.

Chichester District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions will now take steps to recover the money.

Benefits system overwhelmed

A reader writes that she reported an open and shut case of benefit fraud, but it hasn't been investigated.

Sadly, this isn't surprising. In February 2009 there were 5.8m working age benefits claimants - and the DWP have only around 3,000 investigators.

The DWP get around 800 referrals a day, say 4,500 a week. That is whittled down to 2,000 investigations a week by their more than 3,000 investigators. Most of these must be perfunctory.

3,000 investigators can't police 5.8m claimants effectively.

And if the case does get investigated? A Commons committee says about 200,000 cases of potential fraud were investigated in 2006/7 where the DWP considered there was a high possibility of prosecution - but only 7,483 of them were taken to court.

They simply don't have enough people. So effectively the government is conniving at widespread benefit fraud.

What should the government do? I'll blog on that tomorrow.

Suspended sentence for £21k benefit theft

A YOUNG mother falsely claimed more than £20,000 in benefits over four-and-a-half years, a court was told.

Samantha Turner, aged 26, failed to declare she was living with a man who then became her husband.

A judge sitting at Plymouth Magistrates' Court warned Turner that major benefit cheats could expect to be sent to prison.

But District Judge Paul Farmer gave her a suspended prison sentence after hearing that she had two young children and had fostered another.

Mr Farmer added that Turner also had no previous convictions and had pleaded guilty as soon as she could.

Turner, of Brayford Close in West Park, Plymouth, admitted four charges of failing to declare a change of circumstances which affected her benefit — that she was living with a man as husband and wife.

The court was told that she had been falsely claiming income support, child benefit, housing benefit and council tax benefit between September 2004 and March 2009. The amount overpaid to Turner amounted to £21,225.

She was given a 12-week jail sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.

John Major, prosecuting for the Department of Work and Pensions, said that the city council had been told in 2008 that Turner was claiming benefits even though she was married.

He added that an investigation was launched and found that she had married Aram Share on January 28, 2006.

Mr Major said that Turner had made her first claim as a lone parent but she had renewed her claim with information that was "deliberately false" because she was now married.

He said that Turner claimed in interview that Share had not been living with her on a permanent basis.

But Mr Major said that she had already agreed to pay back benefits to the department and the council at the rate of £130 a month.

Richard Speer, for Turner, said that she had been 20 years old and seven months pregnant when she made her original legitimate claim.

He added that she had already had to deal with "a number of issues" during her relatively short marriage.

Mr Speer handed in references from the children's school and the social services.

He said that she had children aged five and four and was fostering a friend's nine-year-old girl informally.

Mr Speer said that the money had not lead to a lavish lifestyle and the family had not even been on a foreign holiday in recent years.

Mr Farmer said: "The message needs to go out loud and clear that people like you who change their circumstances need to report that change to the authorities or they will lose their liberty.

"You are normally a person who tries to do the best by their family and children and does not break the law.

"Only your guilty plea, your previous good character, the fact that you have children have prevented you from receiving immediate custody."

Her husband Aram Share, aged 29, and of the same address, entered no plea to aiding and abetting Turner to make the false benefit claims.

He elected for the case to be heard at Crown Court and was bailed unconditionally to face magistrates again on July 1.

Benefit fraud prosecutions in Bromley

Frank Czarnecki, from Penge, pleaded guilty to defrauding Bromley Council of housing and council tax benefits totalling £10,908 between December 2008 and December 2009. A data matching exercise showed that he had not declared income held in bank accounts. Czarnecki was sentenced at Bromley Magistrates Court to a 12 month community order with supervision, a six week curfew order from evening to morning and ordered to pay £475 costs.

James Drake, from Orpington, pleaded guilty to defrauding Bromley Council of housing benefit totalling £2,432 between January 2009 and October 2009. A tip off showed that he had failed to declare that he was related to the landlord. Drake was sentenced last week at Bromley Magistrates Court, having been arrested for previously failing to attend court, to a 12 month community order requiring 120 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £475 costs.

These cases bring the total of Bromley claimants prosecuted to 230 since Bromley and Greenwich Councils started working in partnership to track, trace and prosecute benefit fraudsters.

• Both of them easy crimes to hide. 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.
  
  Everyone convicted of benefit fraud who doesn't go to prison 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.

Northants benefit thief may face jail

A mother of nine who claimed up to £73,000 of benefits to which she was not entitled to has been warned she faces being sent to jail.

Jusna Begum, aged 41, pleaded guilty at Northampton Crown Court to cheating the public revenue and evading her liability to pay council tax, between July 2000 and June 2007.

She was accused of fraudulently claiming £73,000 but yesterday admitted claiming £40,000 benefits when either she or her dependants had capital assets of more than £16,000.

Begum was released on conditional bail until next month.

Judge Ian Alexander QC said: "The amounts involved are such that it is almost inevitable she will have to serve a custodial sentence."

No punishment for £9k benefit thief

A benefits cheat who swindled more than £9,000 from South Ribble taxpayers has been brought to justice.

Stephen Parkin, from Bamber Bridge, pleaded guilty to 14 offences of making false representations with a view to obtaining Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit between 2001 and 2008.

Mr Parkin failed to declare his armed forces pension, and claimed £9,398 to which he was not entitled.

He was handed a 12-month conditional discharge, and ordered to pay £100 costs at the hearing at Leyland Magistrates Court.

Mr Parkin will also have to pay back the money he fraudulently claimed.

The prosecution was the result of work done under the National Fraud Initiative, which sees the Audit Commission comparing data supplied by public bodies to identify and stop those illegally claiming benefits and discounts.

• There's no deterrent here. 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.
  
  Everyone convicted of benefit fraud who doesn't go to prison 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.

Another single person fraud

A Kidderminster woman has been sentenced to a 12-month Community Punishment Order and 100 hours of unpaid work after she falsely claimed more than £10,000 in benefits.

37-year-old Julie Smith pleaded guilty to four charges of dishonestly failing to tell Wyre Forest District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions about a change in her circumstances.

Smith had dishonestly failed to declare her partner had been living with her while she claimed benefit as a single parent and that they had got married.
As a result, between December 24, 2007 and the November 30, 2008, Smith was paid £4,092 in housing benefit and council tax benefit and £5,917 in income support to which she was not entitled.

The overpayment will also have to be re-paid to the council and the Department for Work and Pensions.

No jail for £23k benefits thief

A fraudster who falsely claimed she was a widow to claim more benefits has narrowly avoided a jail term.

Dorothy Olaniyi was busted following an investigation by Lambeth Council's benefit fraud team.

The 43-year-old from Brixton married in 2001, but failed to declare it when making benefit claims.

She received £23,000 in payments she was not entitled to by saying she was a widow and a single parent.

Olaniyi pleaded guilty to three charges, one of failing to declare a change in circumstances and two of dishonestly producing a false document.

She was sentenced at Inner London Crown Court on April 16 to six months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

In addition she was given a community order for two years with an unpaid work requirement of 250 hours.

Scarlett mother Fiona MacKeown sentenced for fraud

The mother of Devon teenager Scarlett Keeling, who was killed on a beach in India, has been given an eight-month suspended jail term for falsely claiming £19,000 of income support between February 2005 and March 2008.

Fiona MacKeown was also ordered to do 150 hours of community work.

Speaking outside the court after sentencing, MacKeown told BBC News: "I didn't think it was such a big deal - obviously it is".

More

Trivial punishment for £15k fraud

A mature criminology student who claimed she could barely walk was caught on camera by benefit fraud officers carrying a heavy recycling bin to the end of her garden - pictures here.

Angela Pasquill, 46, was caught out after a team of undercover surveillance officers were tipped off that her claim for disability benefits was bogus. She was captured on film lifting the bin and walking with it from her front door to the end of her garden and showed no sign of any discomfort while putting out the rubbish.

Pasquill, who claimed she could barely walk, was caught on camera carrying a heavy recycling bin and bounding down the steps at college

Grandmother Pasquill, who is in the final year of a higher education course to study criminology, was caught mowing her lawn at her home in Darwen, Lancashire.

Secret footage also showed her bounding down the steps at the college while wearing high heels before jumping into her car which she had claimed she was unable to drive.

Pasquill, who said she needed two walking sticks just to stand up and needed someone with her while she was outdoors, was also filmed strolling unaided with her grandson while she took him to school on a round trip of nearly a mile.

The 46-year-old was raking in thousands of pounds in illegal benefit payments but was caught out after an anonymous tip-off to the Department for Work and Pensions' National Benefit Fraud Hotline.

She had claimed it took her six minutes to walk just 15 yards and could not dress the lower half of her body.

She said she was likely to fall over at any time and needed help washing and drying and that she could not stand long enough to make a meal.

But the covert filming operation clearly showed that Pasquill could walk unaided and showed no sign of any discomfort, even while carrying a refuse bin.

She was arrested and interviewed in October 2008 and claimed she had undergone a pain management course in 2005 which made her more able to manage her condition.

She was receiving Disability Living Allowance at the higher rate for mobility and the middle rate for care from June 2003.

The award increased to higher rate mobility and higher rate care from January 2005 when she stated on her application form that it would take five minutes to walk three metres. She was overpaid £15,929.

Yesterday Pasquill pleaded guilty to failing to notify promptly the DWP a change in her circumstances so that it would affect her level of disability living allowance between September 2006 and October 2008.

Prosecuting for the DWP Richard Taylor said: 'For a period of just over two years she failed to disclose her condition had improved.

'She was required to notify any change in her circumstances. During the period of September 2008 to October 2008 officers conducted a surveillance exercise in order to gather evidence.

'She was observed walking unaided with her grandson to school over a distance of 0.8miles. She was seen gardening and bending down easily.

'It was also visible that she was able to go up and down the steps at the college she attended while wearing boots with high heels with no visible signs of discomfort.'

Defending Robin Phoenix said that Pasquill suffers from osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.

He added: 'At the time this was first claimed what she declared was correct.

'She spent a few weeks in Hope Hospital on a pain relief course and how to deal and manage pain successfully. She learned to manage the pain and get on with life.

'She did not notify them of the changes. It was a mistake that Angela made.'

Magistrates sentenced Pasquill to a two-month curfew order which bans her from leaving her house between 7pm and 7am and she must wear an electronic tag.

She was also ordered to pay £75 costs at £10 per week.

Chairman of the bench Sean Mullen said that the maximum sentence available to them was 26 weeks in prison.

He added: 'It is a very serious offence. It was for a long period of time and a high value. In mitigation your claim was initially legitimate. It is negligent in our view. It is a substantial loss to the DWP.'

Pasquill will have to pay back all the money back to the DWP.


There is no deterrent effect in thios sentence. Just where is her punishment?