I committed benefit fraud

[snowi]

hi all
i am being charged in a court for benifit fraud for over 3 years at a total of 25 thousand
charge one is 8 thousand wich i am paying back
charge 2 is 8 thousand and charge 3 is for 9 thousand
i admited this under a caution to the dhss
i am now working legaly and off all benifits apart from working tax credits wich i never new i was entittled to . does anyone know what could happen to me i worried sick now thanks all x

[yourbank]

Try this page 76
http://www.sentencing-guidelines.gov...compendium.pdf

[yourbank]

I have made an error and I apologise. The link is for 2003 compendium. There may have been some updates that I have not read
Sentencing Guidelines website-Guidelines-Other guidelines-Court of Appeal
That was my original source

[snowi]

forgot to ad i wont and never will have this money how can i repay this and if i was sentanced to a jail term do you still have to repay the money or is the debt stopped, also if they take me to court under a procceds of crime how do they get the money if i have none xx

[snowi]

Originally Posted by yourbank

I have made an error and I apologise. The link is for 2003 compendium. There may have been some updates that I have not read
Sentencing Guidelines website-Guidelines-Other guidelines-Court of Appeal
That was my original source

thanks xxx

[yourbank]

You need to be honest when you go to court, including circumstances as to why you claimed what you were not entitled to. Explain everything and be honest. I will see if I can get someone here who might know, because I do not know the answers to the other questions you are asking. When are you in court(maybe approximate, ie within a week/month etc,etc so as not to be too specific)?

[snowi]

hi iv been and lawyer got it adjorned till 3 sept then hes wrote to me and siad ill get another date hes had it ajorned again
he told me this at first meet and said hell get it for around xmas time and that would give me a chance to get the money
hes living in another planet .
iv had enough now as my dads terminal i want this done now and not at xmas when things might get worse thanks all xxx

[surprise]

I was recently told of a case where someone was actually working for himself and had a very successful business and was claiming benefits for 4 years. When he was cautioned and, because he had been very co-operative, he walked away with community service.

It would seem that the key is being co-operative and honest and remorseful.

[MARTIN3030]

Yes any sentence will reflect your cooperation and admissions early on.It would also take into account of your ability to repay.
The Court will also be looking to see how you used the money-that will be a mitigating factor.
Not all cases require the overpayments to be repaid-but there is almost always costs awarded.
Your best bet is to keep this in the Magistrates Court...
Its quite rare to see custodial sentences handed out in most cases for a first offence-there now appears to be a greater use of community service orders.
Have a look at this-its a list of cases and the results from Wrexham-and is soley Benefits Fraud related.

Maybe you should consider asking them to withdraw charge 1 since you are already paying that back.


WCBC: Previous Prosecutions Obtained by the Anti-Fraud Team

[saviour1263]

i commited benefit fraud when my wife died and hada nervous breakdown then my children put into fostercare they called me into the office and i explained in a flood of tears that yes i was still claiming for the children even though they weren't living with me but i was still buying things as if they were like clothes for them and stuff liek that it ended they understood and im paying it back out of my working dla the best thing is to be honest and also bring up the fact about your father being terminal etc and how things are affecting you .

[snowi]

Im still here my case keeps gettin put back for god knows why
the lawyer thinks its for the best , untill my dad passes
can anyone tell me urgently is there a time limit from when i was given the papers by the police i looked at the glasgow web site the gov one and looked at benifit fraud and on one part it says something about a time limit for prosecution
mines is being held at glasgow sheriff court the lawyer told me i can get 1 year now after speakin to the PF hes got it reduced to 17 thousand and told me if i dont pay it in a lump sum im looking at 18 months will i take my chances myself as theres no way i can get that money xxx

[surprise]

There was a case in our local paper (West Mids) where a woman had been defrauding housing benefit for 10 years, total £57,000, she got a 12 month suspended sentence and was paying it back at just under £12 per week = she would be 112 when the debt would be paid. The circumstances was that she had been living with her partner for 6 years, who was working on a low income. The Judge said the sad thing about this is if you had have declared it there would have been other benefits that you could have claimed legitimately.

I'm not sure how long they can keep putting it off though.

I think the main thing is when you go to court is to ensure that you are contrite and to offer to make amends.

[snowi]

im still attendin court for this iv had background reports done then back again for procceds of crime on my home how long can this go on im off work now with stress im back AGAIN on 30 june

[MARTIN3030]

I am not up on the Scottish system-but generally you could get some idea by looking at the sentencing policies of that Court-have you done any searches on the net ?
So theres 8 grand come off-is that one of the 3 original amounts ?
You are paying the first one off you say ?
My guess is that that one will be taken into consideration-or is it that one thats been dropped ?



http://74.6.239.67/search/cache?ei=U...icp=1&.intl=uk

[MARTIN3030]

There does not appear to be much on recent activities.
Interesting I found a consultation report from 2007.

Link is in previous post.

[mrsfoot]

Hi

Although I can not condone the act of fraud, I have managed to find some information which you may find useful.
As it is quite juicy I would suggest taking your time reading it. The main section is clause 17 Social Security Fraud Act. From there you will need to find further reading based on the info in that clause.

Social Security Fraud Act

Social Security Administration (Fraud) Act 1997 (c. 47)

Althou they are English Acts they do have Scottish sections in for readisee 13 - 16 for advice.

Good luck. Be honest. Get to your solicitor and ask for an update. Co-operate. Inform them of family matters. Show a willingness to repay your debt.

Mrsfoot

[MASRSTER09]

Im Currently In A Similar Situation My Name Has Been Cleared But My Ex Hasnt We Were Entitled To The Benefits At The Time Although He Did Attend His Work Place Whilst On Benefit He Even Did The Odd Job But He Never Had Any Income From This He Was Only Helping A Friend We Told All This To The Officer When He Interviwed Him Under Caution Then This So Called Friend Decided To Provide The Dss With False Dates For My Ex To Be Working This Friend Got So Carried Away With Providing This Info That Ge Forgiot That My Exs Mum Passed Away On One Of The Dates He Had Down As Working Even Though We Provided All This Info To The Dss They Still Took Him To Court Hes Had Two Dates Adjourned And Is Due To Go On The 27 May What Are His Chances Of Being Cleared Of This Allegation And Walking Away The Funny Side Is That My Ex In The 25 Yrs That He Worked Paid All His Taxes And Ni Contributions And This Was The First Time In His Life That He Claimed Any Kind Of Benefit What Is The Worst That Could Happen To Him

[surprise]

It depends on how much is involved and how much evidence they have. I think the key is being co-operative and remorseful. Recent cases I have read about have involved community service and paying back the amount in question.

[MASRSTER09]

The amount involved is just over 6k they only have false work dates and the statement that my ex gave under caution he never denied working but we are debating the fact that he had no income from this also the false dates that have been provided there is no official contact details for anyone to be contacted and dates and amounts and other information has been alterd after the letter was printed we tried approaching this company for a more detailed report on the letter that had been provided by them but guess what the company gad closed down this was over a year ago the letter the dss have is anything but reliable other than that they have nothing

[MARTIN3030]

Decisions as to whether to prosecute in the Courts will have been decided at a senior level it would be suprising if they are going to push it to Magistrates unless they thought they had a good case.