Taxi Driver Online

Taxi driver and lying wife jailed after she claimed she was single parent to get £100k of benefits

28th August 2010

A taxi driver and his wife today began prison sentences for committing more that £100,000 of benefit fraud.

Richard Sullivan, 58, and his wife Julia, 38, were jailed for 15 months each for falsely claiming council tax and housing benefit worth a total of £115,194.

The couple from Elm Park, Essex, were jailed at Basildon Crown Court on Friday, a spokesman said.

The court heard the pair received the benefits between June 1998 and October 2008 because Mrs Sullivan signed forms claiming to be a single parent with three children.

They were caught by Havering Council after an anonymous tip-off.

Council investigators invited Mrs Sullivan to attend an interview at which she claimed her husband had moved in with her and that she had declared this in February 2008. No trace of a form was ever found.

Credit checks showed that Mr Sullivan had been at the address for about ten years.

Bank statements showed that Mrs Sullivan lent £2,300 to a friend when she was allegedly a single parent surviving on benefits.

In an application to a credit card company she gave her status as 'living together' and her partner's income as £45,000.

Further evidence that they lived together for about ten years was provided by the Public Carriage Office which confirmed that Mr Sullivan was a black cab driver and that he notified them in June 1998 of his new address at Warren Drive.

The couple were paid £115,194 in total. They received £62,245 in housing benefit, £7,819 in council tax benefits and £45,129 in income support.

A jury at Basildon Crown Court found them guilty on July 30 of benefit fraud offences.

Mrs Sullivan was found guilty of dishonestly failing to notify the Council of a change in circumstances and making dishonest statements or representations.

Mr Sullivan was found guilty of aiding and abetting a dishonest failure to notify the council of a change in circumstances.

Havering councillor Roger Ramsey said: 'People who commit these offences are complete scroungers and should be held in total contempt.'

'There are families struggling in these tough financial times who genuinely need help and that's why it's so important to catch those cheating the system.'

'Hardworking taxpayers should not be funding the laziness of such criminals. We will use every means at our disposal to bring benefit fraudsters to court.'

Source; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... ds-newsxml

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
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FFS!!

As if he couldn't earn enough as a London cabbie!!

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Shouldve been 15 years for pinching our money...not 15 months the thieving gits..

What's the problem, politicians have been robbing us blind for years?

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

yes..but they rob us legally

Not always

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

MPs get 100K over 2 house flips/2nd homes in a year or so

hang em i say

I cant believe i am saying this i agree with you

There are probably over a million out there getting more in benefits than they should and a few in the cab trade round here that do as well not to mention board operators who will only work for cash in hand and loads of drivers who have been avoiding the inland revenue for years

The trouble is we have an expectation of what life should provide and a very easy to abuse benefits system as well as insurance compensation etc etc greed is encouraged because greed feeds the economy

and if you want to do it properly

go Ltd company

be a PAYE employee on £85 a week/16 hours

your 7 kids will get you £300 a week WFTC, plus all your prescriptions/glasses/dentist/school meals,etc paid for, all tax free

you can get your child benefit too of course, not sure what that is now

dont worry, the tax man never chases ltd companies, no need to put accounts in, no tax to pay, after 2 or 3 years form a new one abd get a job with them


this why certain private hire firms are loads cheaper than others.....

the really funny bit is.....


if you say your not working but are, and claim, they can nick you

do it the other way, then say you ARE working but arent, and your safe

You can't be a PAYE employee of your own company on £85 for a 16 hour week. You would end up taking yourself to court for failing to pay the minimum wage.

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Grandad,

any court action would be optional, not mandatory

BTW, technically, the action wouldnt be against yourself as a Ltd company isnt not YOU, its a seperate legal entity, its a wierd and wonderful world...

If you own the company you would be a director of it NOT an employee !