After fraudulently claiming housing benefit for a Southend-on-Sea flat that didn’t exist, a Guildford man was jailed for 12 weeks at Basildon Magistrates Court.
Having been found guilty after a trial at the Court, 47 year old Roy Vassell, of Guildford Road, Guildford, who pleaded not guilty to fifteen charges of housing benefit fraud, was also ordered to repay £1,615.54 of fraudulently acquired housing benefit.
Mr Vassell had made a claim for Housing Benefit for a flat in the basement of a house in Clifftown Road, Southend-on-Sea. His application was processed by the Borough Council and £1,615.54 was paid out on the claim. However, following a request for further details Vassel’s claim was cancelled when he failed to respond.
In consequence, Vassel requested a Housing Benefit payment of £4,100 from the Council, stating that this amount represented arrears that had accrued with his landlord. He told the Council that he was being chased by a debt collection company that had been hired by his landlord.
The benefits team at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council became suspicious about Vassel’s application for housing benefit due to his unwillingness to provide detailed information regarding his tenancy and landlord. On visiting the property at Clifftown Road, the Corporate Fraud Investigation Team, found that there was no flat in the basement.
Further investigation revealed that the debt collection company, that Vassel claimed was pursuing him for rent arrears, was actually registered in his name as the owner. When formally interviewed, Vassel stated that he was residing in the basement and had incurred expense in both money and time on decorating. However he was not able to demonstrate any improvements he had made to the property or provide information about the landlord or owner.
Evidence was presented to Basildon Magistrates Court proving that a flat had never existed in the property at Clifftown Road and Vassel had submitted a fake tenancy agreement with his fraudulent Housing Benefit application, from the beginning. In repeatedly claiming backdated benefit to which he was not entitled, the Court took the view that Vassal had merely compounded the offences.
Sally Holland, Director for Corporate Services at the Council, stated that whilst the Council had a commitment to pay benefits to people who were entitled to them, taking legal action against those who sought to defraud the benefit system was a duty to protect the public purse. She also pointed out that the Vassel case demonstrated that fraudulent benefit claims could result in imprisonment.