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Beating the cheats
Benefit fraudsters are being warned they have nowhere to hide as Hull City Council teams up with investigators from the Department of Work and Pensions to root out the cheats.
Since April there have been 10 court convictions against benefit cheats as well as nine formal cautions and 15 financial penalties imposed.
In a recent case at Hull Magistrates Court, a north Hull woman admitted dishonesty after failing to declare she was living with her long term partner.
As a result she was overpaid more than £15,000 in Housing and Council Tax Benefit, but the conviction means she now has to pay every penny back and undertake 200 hours of community service.
And a Bransholme man who failed to declare he was living with a partner, who was in full-time work for more than two years, was overpaid £7,000 of Housing Benefit and Jobseekers Allowance.
He was ordered to repay the money, undertake 120 hours of community service and pay £75 costs.
"The successful convictions for benefit fraud are testament to how well our partnership with the Department of Work and Pensions is working," says Mark Bell, the council's housing benefit security manager.
"The partnership comes into play when an individual appears to have committed a fraud which impacts upon the benefits administered by both authorities.
"We will continue to use all the powers at our disposal to ensure benefits go to those who genuinely need them and not the dishonest minority."
All information passed to investigators is treated in confidence and anyone wishing to report suspected benefit fraud can:
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