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Three benefits cheats convicted
Three Three local residents have successfully been prosecuted by Watford Borough Council for making false benefits claims.
On the Friday 7 January 2011, a woman from Leavesden Road, Watford, was sentenced at Watford Magistrates Court and ordered to pay a fine of £135, costs of £100 and a £15 victim surcharge after pleading guilty. She is also required to repay the full amount of benefit she was not entitled to - in excess of £2,300 - and has made an arrangement with the council to do so. In all cases of benefit fraud, the full amount of overpaid benefit has to be repaid.
On the same day, a man from Haydon Road, Watford, also pleaded guilty to charges of failing to notify Watford Borough Council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of a change to his circumstances. A joint investigation discovered he had continued to claim Council Tax benefit and Jobseekers Allowance after his partner started work.
Even though he was given numerous opportunities, he refused to be interviewed by Watford Borough Council and DWP investigators. At Watford Magistrates Court, he pleaded guilty and was fined £65, ordered to pay £50 prosecution costs, as well as having to pay back £766.84 for Council Tax benefit and £1,243.41 for Jobseekers Allowance.
At Hemel Hempstead Magistrates Court, another man , formerly of Grover Road, Oxhey in Watford, pleaded guilty to failing to notify a change to his circumstances that he knew would affect his entitlement to Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Job Seekers Allowance.
He was sentenced to six weeks per offence, suspended sentence for 12 months and ordered to pay prosecution costs and repay over £3,600 of benefits that he had claimed.
Councillor Andy Wylie, cabinet member responsible for financial issues, said: “The council carries out monthly data matching exercises with the Department for Work and Pensions, which helps identify potentially fraudulent claims and payments. Where a match is found it indicates there is an inconsistency that requires further investigation. These three new successful prosecutions demonstrate clearer than ever that Watford Borough Council is taking tough action and will not tolerate benefit cheats.”
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