• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Must Reads Broken Britain

Benefits cheat claims almost £100k by pretending to be a dead person

A prolific swindler has been jailed for assuming the identity of a dead man to illegally claim almost £100,000 in benefits. Robert Lewis, 61, had a false driving licence and National Insurance number in the name of Mark Shales, a court heard. He was paid around £20,000 a year through a combination of benefits from […]

Guest Contributor by Guest Contributor
2018-04-24 10:44
in Broken Britain, Must Reads
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A prolific swindler has been jailed for assuming the identity of a dead man to illegally claim almost £100,000 in benefits.

Robert Lewis, 61, had a false driving licence and National Insurance number in the name of Mark Shales, a court heard.

He was paid around £20,000 a year through a combination of benefits from Exeter City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions.

But it turned out that Mr Shales had died in Jersey in 1995 aged 33.

Not content with one false identity Lewis went on to use another and claim more illegal benefits in the name of Robert Shales.

Lewis, of Newton Abbot, Devon, who has a string of previous convictions for dishonesty stretching back more than 30 years was jailed for what the judge called a ‘campaign of dishonesty’.

He was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail.

He pleaded guilty at Exeter Crown Court to six offences of fraud by false representation

Prosecutor Nigel Wraith said the offences took place over a period of at least four years from 2012 to 2016.

RelatedPosts

Hugh Grant gets props for indifferent Oscars interview

Palestinian refugee fleeing persecution wrote poem about dying in the sea before he tragically perished

Dave Grohl heads to homeless shelter with giant smoker and feeds 450 people

A turnip for the books: Searches for ‘how to grow your own veg’ rocket

Lewis, who had previously changed his name from Norman Hill, began claiming in the name of Mark Shales after being given a suspended sentence for fraud in 2011.

Mr Shales was the son of his birth mother and had lived in Jersey until his death aged 33 in 1995.

A year later Lewis made a second fraudulent claim in the name of Robert Shales. To back up the masquerade the defendant used false National Insurance numbers and driving licences.

In total Lewis claimed £97,070 from a combination of housing benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Personal Independent Payment, and Disability Allowance.

While pretending to be two other people Lewis also legally claimed benefits in his own name. He had been doing so since 2003.

The defendant has convictions for dishonesty, including forgery and obtaining property by deception, going back to 1982 and has spent several stints in prison.

Ms Emmi Wilson, in mitigation, said he now had a job and was a changed man. She said his Chinese wife, who could speak little English, had given him stability and she would suffer if he was sent to jail.

Robert Lewis.

Lewis told probation he liked to spend the money on other people rather than himself.

But Judge Timothy Rose said the offending had been sophisticated and involved significant planning.

Judge Rose said: “You have over the years made numerous appearances before the criminal courts, frequently for matters of deception and dishonesty.

“In 2012 you embarked upon a sustained campaign of dishonesty in relation to false claims for benefits in either fictitious or otherwise adoptive names which were nothing to do with you at all. They had no foundation in reality in relation to your position.”

He said Lewis, of Clifford Drive, started laying the groundwork soon after being given a suspended sentence for fraud by adopting the identity of Mark Shales, who had died 17 years earlier, and then making false claims.

“This wasn’t enough for you because having set that up and starting to receive benefits you started all over again with a second claim. You gave your true date of birth then claimed to be somebody called Robert Shales.”

He said the offences were sophisticated and ‘utterly fraudulent from the outset’.

“You were not satisfied with one false identity and went on to launch another. I have no alternative today other than impose an immediate prison sentence.”

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/must-reads/professional-rubbish-remover-jailed-for-repeatedly-dumping-builders-waste/24/04/

https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/must-reads/watch-a-plague-of-rats-the-size-of-small-dogs-have-taken-over-a-neighbourhood/19/04/

Content Protection by DMCA.com

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending

Elevenses: Exposing the Tories’ Deepfake Illegal Immigration Bill

Elevenses: Rishi’s Finest Hour

Elevenses: Fear and Loathing in the New Conservatives

More from TLE

Lotto ‘winner’ Edward Putman to appear in court over alleged £2.5m lottery fraud

Only six per cent of the UK has been built on, according to new software

Martin Lewis gets off to explosive GMB start as he grills Currie on Hancock’s antics

Two in five Leavers ‘bothered’ when they hear non-English languages in UK

Cinematographer dead after prop gun fired by Alec Baldwin on film set

Wine of the Week: Château Minuty Rose et Or

Michael Fabricant brags about how government has ‘helped you so far’ but people aren’t having it

Liverpool fan Andrew Devine is 97th Hillsborough victim, coroner rules

Tory trustee for Feeding Britain votes against feeding Britain

Flashback: Mike Graham tells carpenter cement grows on trees

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.