Charged with Benefit Fraud - Any advice?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

There will be widespread media publicity - everybody where you live will know.

I do hope you repeat what you have said here to the judge - will guarantee a prison sentence.

***removed by Forum team***

tacpot12

Hello Andy

I do feel the pain in your situation. You are faced with uncertainty, and having to admit to others that you have done the wrong thing. However, those that love you will forgive you, if you don't repeat this failure.

Others have challenged you on your attitude, and I also wanted to pick up on something else you said:

I know that back home there were plenty of people working the system but only a few get caught/

This notion that the system is fair game and it is ok to abuse it has to stop. Whether or not people get caught; it is just wrong. My feeling is that we need a bit more compassion in the UK: for the people who need to claim benefits; and a bit more challenge for the people who do not. Your comment seems to echo the latter part of this view.

If you know people are abusing the system; report them. If you aren't sure, don't assume they are abusing the system, as they may be in a worse position than you are now!

I hope the court finds a suitable punishment for you. I've been to court and was handed a sentence that I didn't feel was fair, but with the help of friends, it was bearable. Whatever the punishment is, it will be over soon enough, and you can try to rebuild your life from there. Sorry for assuming you will be found guilty; you never know, your solicitor may be very good. :-)

poppy12345

I would advice you tell your son. It will be in your local papers, and gossip spreads quickly. Your son will find out what you've done from someone else, if you don't tell him. I can't begin to imagine what this will do to your son. Shame on your for not thinking about him!

£40,000 is an insane amount of money, i'm wondering how long you would have continued to commit fraud if you hadn't have been reported by your ex. I say well done to your ex for having the courage to report you.

I know someone who commited benefit fraud years ago, i have no idea how much it was for but i do know they were sent to prison for what they did. I hope the same thing happens to you and you learn from what you did.

annandale

Widespread media publicity. In the local paper. A couple of lines.

Bring plenty of lube. Sorry. I don't agree with benefit fraud but this post was made by someone who posts on this board in an official capacity.

Really shocking statement in my view. You are telling someone they are going to be raped in prison? And joking about it.

Rape isn't a laughing matter. Hope you get my point.

tomtom256

trigger_fish wrote: »

No, it isn't.

It's extrapolated benefit fraud-what they think give or take what has gone on using statistical models.

So what they think has gone on based on statistics.

Statistics that can be made up, incorrect and misinterpreted.

So what you are saying then is it's a made up fact then, no!

tomtom256

Andy500 wrote: »

I know all that. I was in the Army for 4 years and know there were cuts, I know that back home there were plenty of people working the system but only a few get caught/



Thats what hey sat. It's made up of JSA and rent payments. It works out about £8000 a year



I would prefer not to tell him anything about what i done. But I normally see him every weekend so if i ma in orison for 18 months or more i need to tell jim where i will be or why I am there

So if not a troll, which I haven't ruled out yet with it being half term, it's five years of JSA and HB then.

Presumably you were working throughout this period and failed to declare it?

Was it false from the outset or a change?

It is rare for a prison sentence but that is worst case so prepare for it. Probably get a fine and costs and publicised in local media.

w06

With regard your son, please find a way to tell him the truth in an age appropriate way, before he finds out from somewhere else.

As a teenager I went out with a lad whose step dad (who he lived with) had been in prison for fraud, he was in prison when I first knew the lad.

I'd always thought that he just made up a cover story to tell everyone ('step dad worked away') because it was relatively common knowledge that the chap was in prison and the reason (rural area and local comp).

It wasn't something we ever discussed until, when he was about 13, he discovered the truth and was incredibly hurt that he'd been lied to, it damaged his relationship with all three parents more than the crime and sentence did with his stepdad. Please don't do that to your son.

Alice_Holt

tomtom256 wrote: »

So if not a troll, which I haven't ruled out yet with it being half term, it's five years of JSA and HB then.

Presumably you were working throughout this period and failed to declare it?

Was it false from the outset or a change?

I would have thought it difficult to fraudulently claim JSA. Given that the JC would require attendance at meetings / training sessions / work providers / evidence of work search. And certainly after 1 year the JC would expect increased effort. The % of claimants on JSA for 5 straight years must be quite low.
I suppose it the OP could have been working ad-hoc cash in hand, with no records on bank accounts / HMRC records or, more likely, engaged in illegal activities.
In which case (assuming he's not a troll), he has also defrauded HMRC as well as the DWP.

HB would be easier I suppose, given a plausible story and faked paperwork. At least he didn't have to present himself at the HB offices every week.
But the HB fraud detection rate is increasing I understand as more info is shared between depts. HBO may be able to confirm my understanding.

The benefit that criminals usually tried to defraud was DLA. Borrow a wheelchair; fake a GP's letter, etc etc. That gave the government a handy excuse to introduce PIP and the dreaded WCA.
Which led to - DWP decision letter - 'The paramedic HCP is sure the MSE shows you are now completly well and no longer have psychosis, severe depression, etc...' And complete misery for many, many disabled people. Thanks, in part, to criminals like Andy (assuming it's not a wind up).

[Deleted User]

I think you need to tell your son that you did something wrong and you have a lot of regrets especially for the fact that it may mean you won't be able to see him for a while. Tell him that sometimes they send people away who do wrong things. Say what you can do, like write letters every week so he doesn't feel like you will totally disappear from his life.

BE SORRY in court. Don't breath a word of 'everyone does it only a few get found out'. Say that you now realise there were other solutions to the debt problems you had at the time and you should have found them then. They were a part of your lifestyle at the time when you had other criminal convictions but you haven't had any convictions for x years (hoping this is the truth) .., you have learned but not as quickly as you could have done.

And then put into practice what you have said. For your son. He's going to be the biggest loser in this.

Remember the Prosecution witnesses are going to be people who have put hours of work into discovering what you did before they saw you, who will hate what you have done as they WILL see it as a choice, and a very bad choice that you didn't have to make.

Turn this around. If you go to prison, when you come out you can turn it around. But you need to think differently. You still aren't there yet.

Its not just a prison sentence.

I had an ex. Three convictions for drink driving - he only learned his lesson when the judge locked him in the dock and scared him you know whatless. He could easily have killed people. He certainly caused us a lot of grief as I had constant visits from social workers linked to his probation terms. And a leg bracelet (yes we had security people come barging in when something broke and it stopped signalling, plus phone calls at any time to prove he was in my house. It was dreadful. And a large part of the problem was his attitude. He didn't understand honesty for a long time or responsibility, was a bit of a 'jack the lad' but translate that into fool rather than an affectionate term. He was very charming and thought he could get out of anything until he faced that one situation when he was a hairs breath from being locked up. It means that although I still love him, we will never have another relationship because I can never trust him. His son has suffered because of his behaviour and is only just starting to trust him again (kids can see things more clearly than adults sometimes) - he's 11 now. he's been hurt because his Dad just wasn't there in an emotional sense (although he couldn't see that), he couldn't be, he didn't have it in him. He has changed, he has made a LOT of effort to change, but there was a lot of harm done in the intervening years.., some of which I doubt can be undone. And yes, I have the shame of putting us in that situation.

maisie_cat

What the op did was clearly wrong, but what I don't get is that the ex knew about and probably benefited from the fraud "haul" in terms of living standards.
Surely she must take some responsibility for not reporting it sooner, it was a criminal offence and she benefited from the proceeds of crime!
It's a sad world we live in when crime only gets reporting as a means of getting back at somebody, in her case shooting herself financially in the foot at the same time