Home Owner to Repay over £12,000 for Benefit A WHITLEY home owner will have repay over £12,000 and undertake 100 hours unpaid work after claiming benefits and failing to declare rental income. Mr James Ward, 60, of Cressingham Road Whitley, stated that he was a single self-employed painter and decorator who had last worked in April 2010. He applied for Council Tax benefit and the Job Seekers Allowance as a single unemployed man and the owner of 123 Cressingham Road. Reading Borough Council’s Fraud Investigation Team discovered that Mr Ward was also the owner of an additional property in Ashton Court and had rented it out from September 2010. When interviewed under caution by Council and Department of Work and Pension investigators, Mr Ward showed a good understanding of the benefit system. He understood that both organisations should have been informed of the income he received from the rented property, and that he would not have been entitled to any benefits had he disclosed this income. As a result of the defendant not disclosing the property, he was overpaid £12,237.35 in benefits. At a hearing at Reading Magistrates on 30th October, Mr Ward entered guilty pleas to the two charges laid under section 112 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992. He was sentenced to a 12 month Community Order requiring him to undertake 100 hours unpaid work and ordered to contribute £250 towards the costs. All monies obtained by Mr Ward will be recovered directly from him by the relevant authorities. Leader of Reading Borough Council, Jo Lovelock, said: “Once again the Council has shown it will take tough action against benefit claimants who fail to declare changes in their circumstances. I hope the message to everyone is that people must report anything which could affect their benefits, otherwise they will be prosecuted for fraud.”
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 11:32:46 +0000
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