Identity fraud, the City of London police and benefit fraud

This entry was posted on Monday, September 19th, 2011 at 5:36 pm

In the “biggest case of identity theft” in City of London Police history, an Edgware man who used 128 identities to steal £650,000 has been jailed, the Edgware Times reports.

The man reportedly targeted rural post offices to apply for driving licences with forged papers and used them to open bank accounts, claim housing benefits and take out mortgages worth a total of more than £400,000.

Police working with benefit fraud investigators uncovered the fraud, linking the man to more than 40 addresses around Britain. He has now been sentenced to five years and eight months at the Old Bailey.

Chris Beedle, Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit fraud investigator, said: “Benefit fraud is a crime and in this case vital benefits were used to fuel a lavish lifestyle at the expense of the taxpayer.”

The news comes following a government initiative earlier this year, highlighting the seriousness of benefit fraud by publishing some of the more unusual excuses used by people found guilty.

According to BBC News, excuses included “carrying ladders as therapy rather than for cleaning windows” and “claiming an identical twin had been doing work rather than them”.

About £1.6bn is lost through benefit and tax credit fraud each year, and Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud has disclosed that benefit fraud investigators are “routinely dealing with bare-faced cheek and ridiculous excuses for stealing money from the taxpayer”.