A Gloucester man has been convicted of stealing £20,153 in taxpayer money after his wife accidentally revealed on the NHS Test and Trace app that he lied about their earnings.
Mohammad Hashem, 40, has been found guilty of dishonestly claiming housing benefits from Greenwich Borough Council while he lived in London, following an investigation by the DWP.
The investigation revealed that Hashem owed £20,153 in overpayments. His case was tried at Gloucester Crown Court where he was given a 12-month community order and 100 hours unpaid work.
The DWP will now work to recover the money stolen.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride, said: “Benefit fraud is unfair to the taxpayer and especially to those most in need of support.
“That is why we are using all of our powers, backed up by our £900m counter-fraud plan, to catch these fraudsters and deter others from cheating the system.”
Minister for Pensions, Paul Maynard, said: “This conviction underlines our focus on ensuring that our benefit system remains sustainable for those who need it.
“We’re making a huge effort to clamp down on benefit fraud and are working to save £1.3 billion on fraud and error this financial year.”
Hashem was previously asked to pay back around £5,500 after failing to disclose his increased earnings for his original Housing Benefit claim.
The DWP looked into the case further after his wife submitted a Test and Trace Support Payments application during the pandemic, which was for those at work who were losing money by isolating from Covid-19.
In sending the application, Hashem’s wife inadvertently alerted Greenwich Borough Council that she was working, contrary to what her husband told the council.
DWP found that Hashem’s wife had been working for much of the claim and held savings of around £18,000 – which would have made them ineligible for Housing Benefit.