A former Cornwall resident who swindled £42,000 in state benefits over five years has avoided jail.
Kallum Amin – now living in Glasgow – admitted defrauding housing benefit and Personal Independence Payments (PIP) between 2014 and 2019.
Truro Crown Court heard the 45-year-old, who owned properties and had savings, was not entitled to £12,594 in housing benefit.
While living in Cornwall, he also received £29,189 from the Government in Personal Independence Payments and Employment Support allowance.
A former Cornwall resident who swindled £42,000 in state benefits over five years has avoided jail
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He has now repaid nearly £4,000 and is settling the rest at the sum of £42 a week.
The court heard that Amin exaggerated his physical conditions and was not entitled to his benefits.
According to his lawyer, Amin was disabled and still living on benefits in Glasgow so a proceeds of crime confiscation order would follow.
Judge Simon Carr said the defendant “stole money from the state and people who deserve it”.
It will take him 18 years to pay off the balance.
The latest data shows that since 2020, the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative has detected £26.4m worth of housing fraud.
However, 7,392 Britons ineligible for social housing have been spotted on council house waiting lists, The Sun reports.
Cabinet Office Minister, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, said: “All too often, fraud is a hidden crime. That’s why the detection work conducted by the National Fraud Initiative is so important.
Truro Crown Court heard Kallum Amin who owned properties and had savings, was not entitled to £12,594 in housing benefit
PA
“By working with local councils, we’re able to analyse vast quantities of data and detect fraudulent activity.”
Mark Cheeseman, chief executive of the Public Sector Fraud Authority, added: “By using the latest data analytics tools and techniques, counter fraud experts in the Public Sector Fraud Authority, and across the public sector, are making a tangible difference, preventing fraud and protecting taxpayers money.
“Through the National Fraud Initiative we have already stopped criminals from stealing millions but there is more to do.|”
