Suspended sentence for Windsor benefit cheat

A Windsor man who cheated council taxpayers out of more than £27,000 in housing and council tax benefits has received a suspended jail sentence and been ordered to carry out unpaid community work.

Yahia Ghalib, 52, of Arthur Road, pleaded guilty to two offences of failing to notify a change of circumstances when he appeared at East Berkshire Magistrates' Court Bracknell on 16 December. These are offences under Section 112 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.

At Reading Magistrates' Court on Monday 9 January Mr Ghalib was sentenced to 10 weeks custody suspended for 24 months and ordered to carry out 60 hours of community payback.

In addition he is required to pay £3,000 in compensation and £500 towards the council's costs. The balance of the housing and council tax benefit overpayment will be repaid through agreement with the Royal Borough.

The case arose as a result of a referral from a Royal Borough benefits officer. Further investigation revealed Mr Ghalib had received overpayments of £25,372.84 in housing benefit from 4 February 2008 to 30 November 2009 and £2,201.59 in council tax benefit from 4 February 2008 to 26 November 2009, a total of £27,574.43.

Cllr Richard Kellaway, cabinet member for finance, said: "This case flags up the success of Royal Borough teams working closely together to fight benefit fraud.

"We also invite members of the public to contact us if they suspect benefit fraud. I would strongly advise anyone who has received overpayments to contact us as soon as possible so that the issue can be resolved."

The council's confidential and free Beat the Cheat line for reporting suspected benefit fraud is on 0500 353300.

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