Benefit cheat’s five years on the fiddle

A BENEFITS cheat claimed almost £16,000 in income and council tax support — while renting out two properties he owned.

George Furness was jailed for eight weeks by Oldham magistrates yesterday after admitting to making the fraudulent claims over five years. The 54-year-old, of Stamford Road, Lees, continued to claim benefits despite raking in rental income from the two houses in High Street, Lees.

The magistrates heard that Furness began to illegally receive council tax support in October, 2005.

Having previously left his job as a maintenance technician at Oldham Athletic due to health problems, he applied for council tax benefit, the guidelines of which state that adults on a low income, or no income at all, may qualify for a discount.

However, he failed to inform the authorities of the rental income making his application illegal. He made four other claims over the following five years.

In July, 2007, he made similar claims for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and Employment and Support Allowance, which replaced Incapacity Benefit, and again failed to declare his rental income.

Between October, 2005 and May, 2011, Furness was overpaid in council tax benefit to the sum of £8,365. He was also paid £7,424 in JSA between July, 2007 and January 2010, a total £15,789.

Furness claimed to have been genuinely unaware of the need to declare his rental income, saying he didn’t read the council tax benefit documentation correctly.

Asif Akram, defending, said: “Mr Furness did not believe he had to declare any other properties at the time, he believes this was an honest mistake. He didn’t read the relevant documents properly, and would have declared it, had he done so.

“He says the rental income from the houses was paid to his wife —they’re now divorced.

“He’s had to sell one of his existing properties to satisfy the divorce, so is able to pay back the total sum, in full, today.”

Despite the mitigation, magistrates jailed Furness for eight weeks with immediate effect.

Welfare reform minister, Lord Freud, said: “Benefit thieves are costing the taxpayer almost £1billion per year. This money is intended to help those most in need, not line the pockets of criminals. We will continue to tackle this problem at the frontline but also at the root by reforming the benefits system to make it less open to abuse.”