Prison for £52,000 benefits cheat

A man who claimed more than £52,000 in benefits despite having over £100,000 in savings has been jailed.

At Leeds Crown Court Mohammed Yaseen, 46, pleaded guilty to obtaining property by deception and making false declarations to obtain benefit.

The court heard investigators who raided his home found £9,000 in cash stashed in clothing and a handbag hidden in a sofa in the cellar.

Yaseen, of West Street, Dewsbury, was given an 18 month sentence.

'Deliberate criminality'

He was also ordered to pay £236,262 to the Department for Work and Pensions and £4,385 to Kirklees Council.

The court heard Yaseen, a former textile worker, told the council he had only £281 in a building society, when in reality he had thousands of pounds in 33 bank accounts.

His total savings reached £110,000 at one point.

Judge Stephen Ashurst said Yaseen's criminality had been prolonged and deliberate, starting in 1997.

This man thought he could get away with sitting on a tidy sum whilst claiming benefits he was not entitled to. Our fraud investigators have knocked the stuffing out of that idea. James Plaskitt Department for Work and Pensions

He said the tax system relied on people being honest and only a custodial sentence would be appropriate.

James Keeley, prosecuting, said: "He was a spinner and twister by trade.

"Unfortunately for him he seems to have carried on spinning and twisting in respect of his financial claims for benefit.

"If Mr Yaseen had acted honestly and made the declarations of savings he would not have been entitled to income support or council tax benefit."

In mitigation Mr Abdul Iqbal said his client was a family man who was remorseful.

James Plaskitt, fraud minister at the Department for Work and Pensions said after the hearing: "This man thought he could get away with sitting on a tidy sum whilst claiming benefits he was not entitled to, but our fraud investigators have knocked the stuffing out of that idea.

"Benefit fraud is theft from the hard-working taxpayers. It is only right that those who claim fraudulently not only have to pay the money back, but also handover any profit they have made from it."