Battle to beat benefit cheats (From Witney Gazette)

Battle to beat benefit cheats

9:00am Wednesday 12th April 2006 in Witney By Rosalind Miles

BENEFIT cheats swindled almost £300,000 from taxpayers in West Oxfordshire over the past year.

West Oxfordshire District Council's fraud team dealt with 66 fraudsters who, between them, falsely claimed £285,156 a 50 per cent increase on the previous year.

Forty-one people have been either ordered to pay the money back, plus 30 per cent of what they took, have been given a formal caution or faced court.

There are 15 more cases pending and it was deemed "not in the public interest" to prosecute ten other people who are paying back falsely claimed benefits.

The council has clawed back £64,955 so far.

District council fraud investigation manager, Mandy Fathers, said: "Benefit fraud is a crime. It is theft from the taxpayer. Benefit fraudsters exploit the system for their own greed and they are restricting resources for those in genuine need."

The investigation team, based at the council's Elmfield offices, in Witney, was ranked ninth most effective in the country last year.

The amount of fraudulently claimed benefits in West Oxfordshire has risen by £100,000 on the year before.

Mrs Fathers said she believed the 50 per cent increase in the amount of fraudulent claims was not necessarily down to people committing more fraud but the team having more success in detecting them.

She said: "We have uncovered bigger frauds that have been going on for longer. We have more means of detecting fraud and a lot more resources. Now are working with Job Centre Plus we are able to be more proactive in tracing fraudsters.

"People think they are fiddling the tax man instead of the individual taxpayer.

"They don't see it as a crime. We are trying to change that and show people it will not be tolerated."