Southwark man jailed for benefit fraud » Bill Payments » 24dash.com

A Southwark man has been jailed for benefit fraud.

Anthony Lukan, 50, of Moodkee Street in Rotherhithe, had been claiming Housing and Council Tax Benefit towards his rent since May 2006.

He declared one building society account with a balance of less than £20 but failed to declare total savings of £26,500, contained in two other bank accounts. Lukan obtained over £3,000 in overpaid benefit as a result of the fraud.

Councillor Tim McNally, executive member for resources, said: "Southwark Council is committed to tackling benefit fraud. Every penny that gets cheated from Housing or Council Tax Benefit is another penny we can't spend on vital services.

"It's not a case of stealing from some anonymous 'big brother'; they are stealing from you and me and those that require our services.

“The government has in effect reduced the council’s budget over three years by £30m. It is essential that we save every penny and use the funds we have in the best possible way to make sure we continue with our plans to improve Southwark.

"Catching and prosecuting benefit cheats is one of our top priorities and we will continue to bring to justice those who break the law.”

Southwark Council, in partnership with Liberata UK Ltd, has an enviable track record of detecting and prosecuting benefits fraud. Over the last six years, the council has been successful in securing guilty prosecutions for 221 cases, in which over £1.9m was defrauded.

Lukan was charged for the false benefit claim. He had several failures to attend court before eventually entering a not guilty plea. He appeared before District Judge Somjee at Tower Bridge Magistrates' Court on August 13 and changed his plea to guilty.

The defendant was sentenced to 40 days in prison, with 20 of those to be served and the remaining 20 if he re offends, and was ordered to pay costs of £2042, to be paid in full before he leaves prison.

Part of the sentence was that if Lukan does not arrange to have the total costs paid before he leaves prison he is to serve an additional 30 days.