Slough Borough Council’s benefit investigations team has successfully prosecuted two people who fraudulently claimed benefits amounting to nearly £8,000.
Davinder Gill of Burgett Road, Slough, was sentenced on July 31 at Slough Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to failing to declare to the council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that he and his partner had started work, but continued to receive jobseekers allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit.
Mr Gill was ordered to do 100 hours unpaid community work and pay £60 costs. This was a joint Slough prosecution with the DWP. He was overpaid £3,375.12 for jobseekers allowance, £905.26 for housing benefit and £288.63 for council tax benefit.
The second person was Jamal Rashid Abdille of The Green, Southall. Mr Abdille was found guilty of obtaining benefits using a false identity.
Under the name of Koshin Abdi Magan, Mr Abdille claimed £3,394.29 for housing benefit, as well as claiming an unknown amount of job seekers allowance.
He was also prosecuted for one offence of failing to declare he had vacated a property he was receiving housing benefit for and seven further offences of dishonesty – submitting false statements, documents and representations to the council to fraudulently claim housing benefit.
Mr Abdille received 40 weeks imprisonment for each offence to run concurrently.
A spokesperson from Slough Borough Council’s investigations unit, said: “We are continuously investigating claims made by people who fraudulently take money from the council and tax-payers.
“We are very pleased about these two successful prosecutions, which will hopefully send the message out that we will not tolerate false claims.”
Commissioner for opportunity and skills, Slough Cllr Fiza Matloob, added: “The council is committed to making sure all residents are looked after and receive the help they need.
“We will not tolerate fraudulent claims to the Council as this is not fair on residents who abide by the rules. The investigations team continues to work hard bringing these people to justice.”
Slough Borough Council
