Brighton benefits cheat claimed £17k while living in Spain (From The Argus)

Brighton benefits cheat claimed £17k while living in Spain

10:30pm Friday 24th April 2009 in News By Ali Cridland

A benefit cheat who claimed thousands of pounds while living in Spain has been warned she could be jailed.

Georgia Parsons, 41, pocketed more than £17,700 she was not entitled to in housing benefit and council tax benefit from Brighton and Hove City Council.

She let out her rented flat in Courtlands, Ashton Rise, Brighton, to Polish tenants and at one time increased the rent after telling them she had just bought the property and needed the extra cash.

Parsons started claiming for the flat in 2005 but council investigators believe she had been living in Spain since 2006.

She later told them she had been staying in a commune in Beneficio, Orgiva.

Her scam was discovered after her own landlord's agent visited the flat and found her tenants living there. They told her they believed Parsons owned the flat.

Parsons appeared at Lewes Crown Court just hours after the Government launched a new hotline calling on people to shop claimants who live abroad while claiming benefit.

It is estimated that the cheats claim £63million a year while sunning themselves around the world, but most of the cash is believed to go to claimants living in Spain.

Parsons, a single mother, received £170 a week rent plus £17 a week council tax benefit while her tenants paid her £600 a month rent, as well as a £600 deposit. She later raised the rent to £675.

She had been claiming housing benefit since 2002 at various addresses in the city and informed the council she worked 17 hours a week as a freelance drama therapist and earned about £30 to £40 a week.

When council investigators checked Parson's bank accounts they found she had started making many payments in Spain around January 2006, including a vet's bill.

Parsons, who now lives in North Road, Preston Village, Brighton, admitted three charges of benefit fraud between October 2006 and June 2008.

She was bailed until May 22 when she will be sentenced.

Judge Paul Tain told her all sentencing options, including custody, would be considered.

After the hearing the council’s cabinet member for central services, Councillor Ayas Fallon-Khan, said: “This has been a cynical exercise in ripping off honest taxpayers. We make no apologies for being tough on benefit cheats and pursuing them through the courts where necessary.”

The council paid out more than £650,000 in payments claimants were not entitled to in 2007/08.

More than 30,000 people claim housing benefit and council tax benefit from Brighton and Hove City Council.

Claimants initially apply by filling in a form which specifies they must reside in the property, apart from holidays, and must inform the local authority if they are sub-letting or have a lodger.

The rent can be paid directly into the claimants bank account, and they are then obliged to pay the landlord.

But there is no annual review of the claim and the means-tested benefit continues to be paid indefinitely until the claimant informs the council it is no longer needed.

The council relies on claimants being honest and informing it of any change in circumstances.

Claims used to be reviewed annually but this was stopped about five years ago because of the time and cost.

Councils operate fraud teams to check on claims and investigate any suspected fraud. The checks can include going through claimant's bank accounts to see where they are shopping.

The Department for Work and Pensions yesterday announced it was extending its successful benefit cheats hotline to the Costa del Sol and Canary Islands following its launch in Alicante in September 2008.

The fraud involves a range of scams such as people on means-tested benefits going abroad but failing to declare their absence, and individuals working while claiming sickness benefits.

Residents in these popular ex-pat areas can report suspected British benefit thieves to a local number and their concerns will be passed on by the operator of the hotline to a team of investigators in the UK.

Employment and Welfare Reform Minister Tony McNulty said: "We are absolutely determined to stop benefit thieves stealing from the British taxpayer. Our commitment extends beyond the borders of the UK. Even in sunny Spain, we're closing in on benefit fraud."