A PENSIONER who had £51,000 in savings has been convicted of benefit fraud.
Akbal Bhatti, 73, of Stockingstone Road, Luton, appeared at Luton Magistrates Court last Monday (October 31), where he pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly providing false and misleading information to Luton Borough Council to obtain council tax benefit.
The court heard how the council’s audit and investigations team investigated Bhatti’s claim for benefit following a data matching exercise. Enquiries revealed Bhatti had failed to declare the existence of several bank accounts containing savings.
Bhatti fraudulently received benefits totalling £4,740 by not disclosing his savings on the benefit application forms he submitted to the council. He has now repaid the money.
