would this be fraud?

arcon5

McKneff wrote: »

Housing benefit is only paid if you are renting a property to live in.


If you father has claimed means tested benefits then he was probably not entitled to this if he has £30K ;under the matress' so to speak.
How is your aunt holding this money, in her own name, in a bank or what


If this £30K is in your aunts name, she could just spend the lot on herself, its hers to do with what she wants if that's the case.

Just because the monies in an account in the aunts name does not make the money hers! This is terrible advice!

tomtom256

arcon5 wrote: »

Just because the monies in an account in the aunts name does not make the money hers! This is terrible advice!

Legally it does, as she is the only one that can access it!

summersunn

I knew I wasn't being paranoid, they say I over think everything but this is obviously the exception :-(

summersunn

I assumed it was housing benefit, may thats incorrect but the DWP definitely were making the mortgage payments

summersunn

its my sister that has it in her own account not my aunt and yes, it would be held in her name

summersunn

I know it isn't rocket science, i just want an idea of how bad it is, I'm not interested in any inheritance, thats the least of my worries. I've never claimed benefits and I've certainly never had large amounts of cash to move around but I know there ave been lots put in place due to money laundering so i would have thought you'd be in bother if you attempted it

summersunn

Thank you all for the advice, I'm hoping that armed with this information, they'll listen to me. I don't think I can call the fraud squad but I'll certainly try and show them the enormity of this situation. at least I know I wasn't just being sensitive, I was just surprised how "matter of a fact" they were, when I made a fuss.

konark

Tomtom256 is correct, money held in an account in your name that only you have access to is deemed to be yours unless you can prove it otherwise by the benefits agencies. Technically the money is your aunt's, she can pay for your father's shortfall with a gift if she wants.

The only murky area is how she came about the money, this could be seen as 'deprivation of capital' by your father, although if he wasn't in receipt of benefits at the time of this generous gesture it may be difficult to argue he did it to get more benefits, even if this later transpired to be the case.

If your aunt and father are not worried about it I wouldn't lose sleep over it- maybe they know more than you about the matter.

FBaby

Thank you all for the advice, I'm hoping that armed with this information, they'll listen to me

I very much doubt it. It sounds from what you've written that everything was all very planned and done for the purpose of hiding that money to claim benefits. I think what they are saying to you is to keep you quiet so you don't get involved.

The reality is that your father lied on a form that asked a single question and his playing ignorance won't cut it.

Happychappy

summersunn wrote: »

Thank you all for the advice, I'm hoping that armed with this information, they'll listen to me. I don't think I can call the fraud squad but I'll certainly try and show them the enormity of this situation. at least I know I wasn't just being sensitive, I was just surprised how "matter of a fact" they were, when I made a fuss.

Unfortunately benefit fraud is rife and seen as " a matter of fact" so not surprised, its just the way society has gone.