Chichester man pleads guilty to benefit fraud A MAN has been ordered to undertake community work and has been given an 18 week suspended prison sentence, after falsely claiming nearly £24,000 in benefits. Kevin Blows, who previously lived at Phoenix Close, Chichester, was claiming housing benefit, council tax benefit and pension credit for himself and his wife. Yet, Mr Blows had not declared that his wife owned a property in Farnborough worth over £100,000. Mr Blows was caught following a joint investigation between Chichester District Council and The Department for Work and Pensions. He was overpaid £7,292.05 of housing benefit; £1781.50 of council tax benefit; and, £14,633.35 of pension credit guaranteed credit. Mr Blows appeared at Worthing Magistrates Court on 28 June 2013 and pleaded guilty to three charges for dishonestly failing to disclose information he had a legal duty to reveal (contrary to sections 1 and 3 of the Fraud Act 2006). On 25 July 2013 Mr Blows was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment, which was suspended for two years; ordered to undertake 200 hours of work in the community; and pay £85 costs. Councillor Tony Dignum, Cabinet Member for Finance at Chichester District Council, says: "If you are in receipt of benefit payments and your circumstances change then please let us know as soon as possible. Our officers can then check whether this affects your benefit. It can be easy to remember to do this if your circumstances change for the worse, but you must also tell us if they change for the better. "The benefits system is there to help those most in need, not those who want to abuse it by claiming money they are not entitled to. Benefit fraud is a very serious crime and we will continue to prosecute those people guilty of it." Both Chichester District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions will seek to recover all overpaid benefit. If you suspect anyone of committing benefit fraud you can contact the council’s investigation team on a confidential 24 hour fraud hotline number on 01243 534590, or you can report it online.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 21:57:49 +0000
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