Benefit fraud netted man £46,000 over six years
A MAN has admitted pocketing £46,000 in benefits during a fraud lasting nearly six years.
Kim Smith, aged 56, pleaded guilty to three charges of dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances.
He was wrongly paid incapacity benefit, income support and council tax relief because he did not inform the authorities of a pension from the Department for Work and Pensions.
It was the same department which ended up prosecuting him through the courts.
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Smith, of Eastern Avenue, Liskeard, had earlier denied dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances which would affect his benefit claims between September 2005 and June 2011. He was overpaid £45,997.65.
But he admitted the offences as he was due to go on trial at Plymouth Crown Court.
A previous hearing before magistrates was told Smith claimed benefits as a married man who was unable to take a job.
But investigators later found he was already being paid an occupational pension from the Department for Work and Pensions, where he used to work.
Piers Norsworthy, for Smith, said he had taken the relevant documentation into Liskeard job centre to be photocopied.
But he added: "It will have no effect on his sentence. He has indicated he failed to inform the authorities and that failure was dishonest."
The judge, Recorder Michael Selfe, ordered a probation report into his background before sentence.
Smith, who walks on crutches, was released on bail to return to court on November 16.
Comments
by Hoof_Hearted1
Thursday, October 25 2012, 11:35PM
“Shall we get the sweepstake going? I predict 100 hours community service and pay the 46 grand back at £5 a week (paid out of benefits). Oh, and a Thinking Skills programme.”
by Plymouth Tea
Thursday, October 25 2012, 3:37PM
“Kim!”
by philofbudo
Thursday, October 25 2012, 3:22PM
“kazzyb - yes, I know only too well the frustration of giving all your income information to the Income Tax people at HMRC only to be told I have to supply all the same info again to the CTC people in another section of the same organisation.
The "silver lining" in the slashing of the upper income level in April (so I lost any entitlement to CTC) is that I don't have to deal with that office any more!”
by kazzyb007
Thursday, October 25 2012, 2:11PM
“to philofbudo - I can answer that one! I have had a long ongoing battle with Child Tax Credit - and to cut a very long and boring story short, the CTC people told me although they are part of HMRC they are "not allowed" to access my Income Tax records, as that's "another department". So basically.... its to keep a lot of civil servants in work. Nuff said!”
by Tessa43
Thursday, October 25 2012, 1:55PM
“They should also look at how far a carer has to go to care for someone. I think a 2 hour drive every day is just not worth it for the pittance they are paid. That smacks of fraud to me.”
by philofbudo
Thursday, October 25 2012, 1:42PM
“Mr Smith knew he was being dishonest and deserves to be punished, but the DWP don't come out of this well.
The right hand clearly didn't know what the left was doing as the guy was in receipt of a work pension re his employment with.....the DWP!
It surely shouldn't be that hard (IT wise) to devise a system where, when an NI number is input onto the benefits software, a signal comes through to show that the claimant is one of their own pensioners! Hardly rocket science.”