accused of fraud

[mummyjane]

i have been accused of fraud, i have an interview on tuesday, i received an inheritance when my father died ayear ago and am on benefits, i didnt realise to declare it , i have no money left, to repay it i am devestated and obviously stupid please help, what can i expect for being an idiot

[jojojojoanne]

re: the 'stupid thing'

[sara3]

she was sent leaflets regularly to remind her what she needs to declare.

I don't see any excuse that will prevent her from being prosecuted, and she will have to pay everything back regardless.

[carrot99]

puternut - I think the �93k is jane's share of her dad's house being sold - she shared the money with her partner and children and now has nothing left.

[tamborine]

Its your dads money and left to you. Not DHSS or IR. Its not everyday one loses their dad. Do the DHSS actually say you can't take a gift? After all it is a 'one-off'! I think Inheritance tax is due after the first �250k so you shouldn't qualify.

[ummmm]

Tam....you can't claim benefits if you have more than 6k in the bank.

[sara3]

tamborine, she is claiming a means tested benefit and there are limits to how much capital you can have before the benefits will stop. she has responsibilities whilst claiming and she is way over the capital limit, and it doesn't matter where the money came from. she has committed a criminal offence.

[tamborine]

She didn't hold if for long.....it was committed out on her father's Will.

[sara3]

she may not requalify for benefits on the grounds of "deprivation of resources". you can't just splash your cash around and expect the tax payer to carry on supporting you.

[jojojojoanne]

she was unaware of this

[sara3]

jojo, that's her own lookout. she was given the info she needed, and chose to ignore it.

[albaqwerty]

on benefits for 33 years and wasnt "aware total wind up

[sara3]

to be fair, albaqwerty, they pretty much all say they weren't aware when they're interviewed, but that won't change the outcome.

[snags]

I wish someone would give me 93K... think how much cake that would buy...

[tamborine]

And who foots the bill if shes imprisoned - the tax payer!

[sara3]

and how much money would the tax payer save if it wasn't for people committing fraud?

[ummmm]

I was interviewed over a council tax fraud. I signed on briefly.....first time in my life so I didn't know how it worked. I didn't know that they send a form for council tax benefit off from the job centre. I didn't even know I was in receipt of it so didn't inform them when I stopped claiming. They pulled me in for an interview under caution. I was gobsmacked and they knew that it was an innocent mistake. They dropped it. But like I said....I had never signed on before....but 33 years...yeah right.

[jojojojoanne]

i wonder if she will be cross examined and who by!

[sara3]

she'll be interviewed under caution by a DWP fraud investigator, and probably a Local Authority fraud investigator.