SEPT 6, 2012
A GREEDY Birmingham son netted £13,000 by claiming benefits for his DEAD MUM for more than 18 months.
Sazzadur Rahman, 45, was the named carer for his elderly mother Monwara Khatun and had all her income paid into their joint account.
But when she died at Acocks Green Nursing Home in August 2009 he failed to tell the Department of Works and Pension.
The crooked son then continued to bank and spend her benefits for 18 months, netting £13,000.
But a tip-off sparked an investigation by benefit fraud investigators and Rahman was prosecuted. He was sentenced to a 12 month community order and ordered to undertake 200 hours unpaid work when he was brought before the courts this summer.
The court heard he had claimed Income Support for himself and his wife from July 2008 on the basis he was the principal carer for his mother, had no savings and, apart from Carers Allowance, no other form of income.
Mrs Khatun was receiving Retirement Pension, Pension Credit and Attendance Allowance which was all paid into a joint account she held at Lloyds TSB with her son.
But a DWP investigation started in June 2010 when information was received which indicated Rahman was cashing his deceased mother’s benefits, as well as his own.
During an interview under caution in February 2011, he confirmed that his mother had died on August 3, 2009, and that he had failed to declare this fact to the DWP. His benefits were stopped immediately.
Rahman initially stated that he had used the cash to pay back friends for money borrowed to take his mother’s body to her native Bangladesh.
But he later admitted he had used the £13,000 for his day-to-day living expenses.
He also claimed that he had not informed the DWP of his mother’s death as he had asked a local neighbourhood advice centre to organise the halting of the benefits, as his English was very poor.
Yet when the payments didn’t stop, he took no further action and continued to spend the money.
SOURCE: TheBirminghamMail
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