‘Paperboy’ on £80,000 a year sentenced for fraud
Published 14th December 07
A man who claimed to earn £43 per week from working at a newsagent has been sentenced to 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty of defrauding Harrow Council out of £20,000 of benefits.
Investigations by council officers, revealed that Hafizur Rahman, 37, of Church Lane, Wealdstone, actually owned two newsagents which according to mortgage lenders were worth an income of £80,000. Mr Rahman also owned two additional properties which were estimated to be valued at over £500,000 and receiving an undeclared rental income of almost £30,000 per year.
Mr Rahman, originally from Bangladesh, has also signed up to 8 university courses (including English Language Studies and teaching English abroad) over the past 6 years, incurring over £20,000 pounds worth of student debt and costing the taxpayer additionally hundreds of pounds in court translator costs.
Sentencing Mr Rahman, His Honour Judge Bright QC said, "It is perfectly clear to me that you deliberately and dishonestly made a false statement in order to obtain housing benefit and council tax benefit." The Judge also warned Hafizur Rahman that if he committed these offences again he could expect to go to prison.
Speaking after sentencing, Councillor Paul Osborn, Portfolio Member for Strategy and Business Support, said:
"This individual has shown systematic and willful deception over a number of years. He had no regard for the hard working taxpayer and deserves the book to be thrown at him.
"Harrow Council has a rigorous approach to preventing, detecting and acting on cases of fraud. The council also works very hard on the limited amount of resources we have available, in order to provide vital services to those who deserve them. Mr Rahman showed complete disregard for others in need who he may have deprived.
"In this year alone, benefit fraud in Harrow is in excess of £1m. Harrow Council is committed to protecting public funds through a robust and pro-active anti-fraud strategy and a clear prosecution framework. Our trial with the so called 'lie detector' technology is proof of this approach."
Mr Rahman, originally from Bangladesh, has also signed up to 8 university courses (including English Language Studies and teaching English abroad) over the past 6 years, incurring over £20,000 pounds worth of student debt and costing the taxpayer additionally hundreds of pounds in court translator costs.
Sentencing Mr Rahman, His Honour Judge Bright QC said, "It is perfectly clear to me that you deliberately and dishonestly made a false statement in order to obtain housing benefit and council tax benefit." The Judge also warned Hafizur Rahman that if he committed these offences again he could expect to go to prison.
Speaking after sentencing, Councillor Paul Osborn, Portfolio Member for Strategy and Business Support, said:
"This individual has shown systematic and willful deception over a number of years. He had no regard for the hard working taxpayer and deserves the book to be thrown at him.
"Harrow Council has a rigorous approach to preventing, detecting and acting on cases of fraud. The council also works very hard on the limited amount of resources we have available, in order to provide vital services to those who deserve them. Mr Rahman showed complete disregard for others in need who he may have deprived.
"In this year alone, benefit fraud in Harrow is in excess of £1m. Harrow Council is committed to protecting public funds through a robust and pro-active anti-fraud strategy and a clear prosecution framework. Our trial with the so called 'lie detector' technology is proof of this approach."
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