Sponsored by
Benefit cheat, 74, facing £1m bill
A 74-year-old benefit cheat could be forced to pay back £1 million after 11 years of fraudulent claims.
Brian Sutcliffe, 74, of Thistlebottom, Charles-town, Hebden Bridge, received almost 150,000 in income support and tax rebates while earning 60,000 a year.
He used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle of foreign travel, continental timeshares and remortgage payments on his home – which he may now lose.
The fraud came to light when investigators discovered Sutcliffe, a company director, held several part-time jobs and had pensions worth 465 a month. A Yorkshire Bank account had mysterious payments amounting to 158,500 made into it while a further 22,000 was invested in Premium Bonds.
Now, the Department for Work and Pensions has vowed to pursue the case to retrieve 1 million under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The 1 million will include, not only the 150,000 fraudulently claimed, but also any profit made from investing the illegally received cash.
It means just two months after being jailed for three years for false accounting, making a false statement and keeping a wrongful credit Sutcliffe faces losing everything.
The fraud began in 1995 when Sutcliffe was freed from prison for theft and possessing illegal tobacco.
He continued to claim benefits his wife received while he was inside and then added to the income by also claiming in his own name.
He also received mortgage interest payment help despite the property being remortgaged in 1991 to buy N and R Demolitions.
Over 10 years he falsely claimed 145,599.77 – about 17,000 a year.
Similar charges against wife Judith were dropped because she suffered a brain haemorrhage in March 1995 and allowed her husband to take over the family finances.
A confiscation hearing at Bradford Crown Court was adjourned to August 12. Martin Robertshaw, for Sutcliffe, said the claim would be contested.
Email to a friend
Print this page- A58 crash UPDATE: road now re-open after man hit by car earlier this morning
- Crash on the A58 in Halifax this morning UPDATE: Man in hospital with several broken bones
- Taxi worker dies aged 35 after finishing his shift
- Man suffers serious injuries in accident on M62
- How the new Halifax Central Library will look
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Halifax
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: -5 C to -0 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -1 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
