Five more benefit fraudsters have been successfully prosecuted by Lichfield District Council. Between them they defrauded the taxpayer of £27,583 mainly through non-declaration of changes in their circumstances.
That’s still the tip of a very large iceberg, but congratulations to LDC for their investigations.
Three people have pleaded guilty to benefit fraud for failing to notify a change in their situations and continuing to claim benefits to which they were no longer entitled. The benefits claimed totaled £37,927 across Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Job Seekers Allowance and Incapacity Benefit.
I am a higher band tax-payer with no children and expect my high taxes to benefit those in real need and I have no problem with paying if that’s where the money goes. Instead, what we have now is a culture where benefits are claimed as if it was free money to be grabbed whenever people can get away with it. People have forgotten that the money they claim comes straight out of the pockets of others, maybe their own family and neighbours. Benefits are supposed to pay for essentials such as food, housing and health. I don’t pay taxes to buy people cigarettes, cans of Carling, mobile phones, large screen TVs or games consoles. It’s just not what it’s for.
The people in court here have been told to repay their stolen benefit but at what rate, £1 a week, £2? We’ll never get it back and this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as benefit fraud goes. Howl long did it take to investigate these cases? How many more are there getting away with it?
My rant as a fed-up tax payer is now over…..
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