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Gets away (to Sri Lanka) with a £30,000 state
handout! - 10th November 2008 Bradford
man claimed nearly £30,000 in benefits and used it to finance his
life on a tropical island. He bought a holiday home and a plot of
land in Sri Lanka. He has now been jailed for 8 months.
Bradford Crown Court heard that he failed to tell
the authorities he was no longer a permanent resident of the UK, and
still claimed receive income support, council tax benefit and
disability living allowance.
For several years he tricked the local
council and the Department for Work and Pensions out of £28,293.51,
after failing to tell them that he had moved to Sri Lanka.
He told the court that he was doing charity work
on the Island - helping with relief work for the tsunami in 2004.
As with many benefits frauds, the claims started legally, but then
developed into a free hand out after circumstances changed.
There will now be a further hearing, when the
authorities will try to get their money back!
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