Benefit Fraud Enquiries
Because of the credit crunch and recession, the Government has tripled its resources into Benefit Fraud and Tax Credit Fraud enquiries.
It is not when if they catch you but when.
Consult the experts. For more information or a free legal opinion telephone 020-7381-8111 (24 hour service) or email law@rhplaw.co.uk
We are on your side and will help you fight your case related to benefit fraud
It is not if they catch you but when.
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We are here not to judge you, but to help you.
We have a high success rate in negotiating and successfully defending these claims, or otherwise obtaining the best possible outcome, i.e. the re-payment of the benefits claimed, with payment terms, without a criminal prosecution or even a caution.
We can prepare a statement with you by phone and email, to avoid a stressful tape-recorded interview by the Fraud Enquiry Office or police.
We negotiate on your behalf with a high success rate in achieving a satisfactory outcome with the Job Centre Benefit Fraud Enquiry Office, or DWP.
People break the law for all sorts of reasons. For some, the pressures of family life can push them into situations from which they find it hard to escape from.
We understand this and how sometimes people can get themselves into unfortunate situations. The work we do is more than just a job for us and we work tirelessly to always get the best outcome for our client.
Sentencing for Benefit Fraud
Prosecutions take place for fraud for as little as £2,000 and on conviction a Community Service order, or fine, is usually imposed a first offence.
Between £5,000 and £20,000, there is usually an immediate custodial sentence of three months, for the first offence.
For cases involving benefit overpayment of over £20,000, a custodial sentence of around 9-12 months will normally be imposed.
Our job is to change that.
Large-scale benefit fraud can result in sentences of over 30 months. A jail sentence can contain a deterrent element and make ‘examples’ of people.
We mitigate penalties for our clients by off-setting the amount of benefits they have legitimately received against the amount of overpayment claimed. We work out the correct levels of claims and investigate our client’s circumstances. This can reduce the amount of overpayment by up to 80%.
Mitigation can reduce any sentence and an early guilty plea will always do this. In cases of benefit fraud, extra factors that are taken into account are the amount of time over which the fraud occurred and the total amount. Character evidence and voluntary repayments will also be taken into account.
Download the Benefit fraud sentencing tariff as a pdf.
Hylton-Potts – We can help – We are on your side
At Hylton-Potts we can further reduce a sentence by making representations as to the circumstances of the offence and how the fraud began, what the money was spent on and particular special matters relevant such as family breakdown, illness or disability. If a client has committed a benefit fraud in order to feed their young family, then we can ensure this is taken into account in sentencing and given full consideration by the court.
Pressure from others such as bullying by partners, forced marriages, not understanding the regulations, poor English, medical problems and full cooperation, are all factors we can help you with, to get the best possible result. We have accountants and doctors who will help.
Tax Credits
If you are in trouble for having wrongfully claimed tax credits, we can help.
We have an excellent track record in avoiding prosecutions.
We can help you even if the prosecution process has started.
We have great success in getting the DWP, to look at cases again, and exchange a civil penalty, for a criminal prosecution, even if one has begun and a summons has been served.
We Specialise in dealing with the National Health Service (NHS) fraud investigation.
Usually the problem arises when a care worker has claimed sick benefit when well, misrepresented qualifications or maybe used a false name.
We have an outstanding track record in avoiding criminal prosecutions.
We can help if you fear being struck of the NHS list, or fear a prosecution and possible prison sentence.
More Information on Benefit Fraud Law
We are better and cheaper than solicitors. For more information or a free legal opinion telephone 020-7381-8111 (24 hour service) or email law@rhplaw.co.uk.
Student loan and grant problems
If you have got into a mess, and have claimed benefit when perhaps you should not, contact us – the specialists.
Our job is to make the threat of a criminal record or a prison sentence go away, and we are very good at it.
We offer a fast and efficient service, and are committed to a high level of client satisfaction.
The Fraud Investigators know us all over the country and love our approach. We make their life easy, and keep investigation costs down.
Unlike experienced Legal Aid solicitors, we do not ask for copy documents for the sake of it, or treat them like idiots, which they are certainly not.
Invariably the response is “Thank Heavens you are involved. How can we sort this out ?”.
Hylton Potts – The reliable lawyer for Benefit Fraud Advice
Is Tax evasion is as bad as benefit fraud?
Is there a distinction between withholding money by deception and obtaining money by deception? Leona Helmsley, the billionaire US hotel proprietor, once infamously said that “only little people pay taxes”. If she had ever lived in the UK, she might have added: “Only little people go to jail for tax fraud.”
Cheat the Government out of £20,000 in benefits and there is a very good chance that you will be put behind bars. Cheat the Government out of double that amount through tax evasion and there is a very good chance you will not.
In May 2010 Susanne Rees, of Bridgend in Wales, was sentenced to 60 days in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding her local council of £19,000 in housing and council tax benefit. Only three months earlier Michael Frost, a businessman from Cheltenham, avoided jail and was given only 60 hours of community service after pleading guilty to evading £65,000 of income tax through self-assessment fraud.
Probably the only reason Mr Frost escaped going to jail — despite cheating the Government out of more than three times as much as Ms Rees — was because he wore a smart suit and employed an even smarter lawyer.
A quick trawl through court records shows that defendants convicted of benefits fraud of more than £20,000 are often sent to prison, and sometimes a lot less.
Yet less than one in every 1,000 people subject to HM Revenue & Customs investigation for tax evasion is prosecuted to the degree that a criminal sentence even becomes a possibility. Far fewer end up in prison.
Patrick Malkinson, chairman of Boston United Football Club, avoided jail despite defrauding the taxman of almost £400,000. Had Mr Malkinson’s cleaner fraudulently claimed even a tenth as much in housing benefit, you can be sure that she would have ended up in prison.
Of course, the different sentences handed out for morally (or at least financially) equivalent crimes could, in part, be down to the record of the offenders. Some of the many benefit fraudsters put behind bars may have previous convictions, for example. But that cannot be the entire explanation.
It is common for wealthy businessmen caught up in tax investigations to do deals with HM Revenue & Customs. The taxman rarely starts a criminal prosecution when someone is prepared to co-operate.
With an estimated £1.1 billion in benefits going astray each year, and even more in tax still awaiting collection, we must consider carefully what, if any, distinction between withholding money by deception and obtaining money by deception.
Sentencing must be fair and proportionate, irrespective of your class, wealth or the cut of your suit.
For more information or free legal advice telephone 020-7381-8111 (24 hour service) or email law@rhplaw.co.uk
