Shropshire benefit cheats overpaid £1.8 million
Benefit cheats in Shropshire, and in Telford & Wrekin were overpaid to the tune of almost £2 million in the last 12 months.
Investigators for the Department of Work and Pension today revealed they looked into a total of 2,961 claims.
As a result 933 turned out to be fraudulent or made in error and led to action being taken by the authorities.
Across the region it was discovered that a total of £1.85 million in overpayments were made between February 2016 and January 2017.
The highest single overpayment recorded in the same period was for £51,372.
Among the successful prosecutions in 2016 were Mandy Flint, 57, of Telford, who fraudulently claimed more than £35,000 in benefits and enjoyed treats including a family holiday to Florida, after she failed to tell the authorities she had returned to live with her husband and allowed relatives live in a house being paid for by housing benefit.
She was jailed for 12-months suspended for two years, ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work in the community and attend specified activities for 10 days at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
Of the 933 cases, 39 were handled administratively by the compliance team. These were for overpayments of up to £350 where the claimant was was required to repay the sum owed and along with a £350 fine on top.
DWP fraud and compliance regional director David Pedley said: "For a team of 13 investigators and four compliant staff to handle cases involving £1.8m in overpaid benefits I would say the public is getting value for money."
No figures were available for Mid Wales, but cases included Sarah Jane Jones, 42, of Lon Cerios, Newtown,who fraudulently claimed a range of benefits totalling £78,000 after claiming a single parent who was caring for her estranged husband when they were actually living together as man and wife. She received a 16-month prison sentence suspended for two years and was placed on rehabilitation at Mold Crown Court in January.
More than £6.5m worth of benefit fraud was uncovered in the Black Country and South Staffordshire in 2016. Cases handled by the investigating teams resulted in 182 successful prosecutions with 104 administrative penalties issued. Almost 1,500 people living in the area were investigated.
Nationally the department brings thousands of benefits fraudsters to justice every year and recovered a record £1 billion in overpaid benefits last year.
Minister for Welfare Delivery Caroline Nokes said: "Defrauding the benefit system isn't a victimless crime. It diverts money away from those who need it and cheats people out of the vital support they deserve. That's why we pursue fraudsters relentlessly and try to recover the money they steal – to protect taxpayers and ensure our welfare system is there when people hit hard times.
"As these cases show, we're protecting the system and cracking down on swindlers. Our message is clear; benefit fraud is wrong and will not be tolerated."
The latest figures revealed this month showed fraud and error remaining at historic lows, with DWP's thousands of investigators, compliance, support and intelligence staff working tirelessly to catch and prosecute fraudsters.
Successfully securing 5,000 convictions for benefit fraud last year, the DWP also handed down a further 6,000 administrative penalties.
Paying out £172bn in benefits to around 20 million people every year, the department has driven down the rate of overpayments due to fraud and error since 2010, to just 1.9 per cent in 2016.
