A judge has urged the Department for Work and Pensions to speed up benefit fraud prosecutions, which at the moment often take several years to reach court.
Leicester Crown Court’s most senior judge, Nicholas Dean QC, said long delays were “bringing disrepute to the justice system". The judge also said the delays made it more difficult to send perpetrators to prison, "even though they may deserve it".
He also urged a “proactive” approach be taken by the authorities in speedily getting the money back from defendants’ assets - before they disappear.
He spoke out when sentencing a benefits cheat, Bharaj Rawji, who dishonestly claimed £24,000 in state hand-outs to which he was not entitled. He failed to declare that he had at least £16,000 savings in his bank account, between September 2011 and August 2014. The money is being re-paid via deductions of £120 a month from Rawji’s current benefit entitlement.
The money could take up to 20 years to re-pay under that payment plan, and that Rawji's assets could be seized to enable the state to recoup the money quicker. The court was told the £16,000 Rawji had had in savings had disappeared.
