feature: No benefit for fraudsters
16 November 2007
A fraudster who assumed the identity of a dead friend to claim benefits to which he was not entitled is now starting three years behind bars. We take a look at council action on benefit cheats.
Robert Asomeh, of Mount Pleasant Road, Tottenham, was found guilty at Wood Green Crown Court after a joint investigation by Haringey Council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) uncovered fraudulent claims for Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit, Incapacity Benefit, Income Support and Disability Living Allowance.
Asomeh had assumed the identity of a friend who had left the country and subsequently died. He took over benefits originally awarded to the deceased man, and continued the deception for four and a half years, fraudulently obtaining benefits totalling nearly £80,000.
In another recent case, claimant Adjoa Anim-Otchere, from Bounds Green, was sentenced to 140 hours of community service after failing to tell the council and the DWP that she had got a job.
Anim-Otchere illegally claimed benefits totalling more than £21,000 after she got a full-time job as a nurse at Barnet General Hospital. As well as the community service, she will have to pay back what she claimed.
Cllr Charles Adje, cabinet member for resources, oversees the council’s finances:
“These cases show that fraudsters will get found out,” he says. “We work closely with DWP, we check records, and we will prosecute.”
“Swindlers like this are also cheating other people in the borough who pay their taxes, and we will catch them.
“People claiming benefits also have a responsibility to tell us about any change of circumstances. It’s a criminal offence if they don’t.”
You can help by reporting suspected benefit fraud to the council’s fraud team, in confidence, on 020 8489 2868, or by email to benefit.fraud@haringey.gov.uk. You don’t have to give your details, and all reports will be investigated.
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