A couple from Farnborough who fraudulently claimed more than £25,000 Housing and Council Tax Benefit have been prosecuted at Winchester Crown Court and given a nine month suspended prison sentence. The couple, Andrew and Sarah Beck from Blackthorn Crescent Farnborough, were accused of claiming in excess of £60,000 in both local authority and DWP benefits and admitted 11 counts of benefit fraud. The prison sentence has been suspended for two years and Mr Beck was also given a 150 hours unpaid work order and Mrs Beck a supervision order. This is an important message to those minded to defraud the benefit system and makes clear the Council’s commitment to taking prosecutions when this arises.
Interestingly, this successful prosecution was as a result of a two year investigation involving a number of council services and Department of Work & Pensions staff and shows the real benefits to be gained from collaboration and partnership working.
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