Ten-year jail term for benefit fraudsters

Benefit and tax credit fraud costs Britain almost £2 billion each year

Benefit cheats face increased jail terms of up to ten years under a crackdown

More cases will be pursued and tougher sentences sought by sending suspects straight to Crown Court, in new guidelines for the Crown Prosecution Service.

The enormous economic cost of benefit fraud will be a major consideration in whether charges are pursued.

Middle-class and “professional” cheats will be targeted as the offence is brought into line with crimes such as money laundering and banking fraud. The CPS will also aim to ensure that those responsible receive similar sentences.

The move comes after the CPS took over legal work for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which previously had an in-house team. Prosecutors will be told to seek tougher penalties in cases with aggravating factors such as multiple offences, abuse of a position of trust or substantial loss to public funds. Professionally planned frauds, which could include divorcing couples who fail to notify the authorities about their true circumstances, will also be targeted.

Increasing numbers of suspects will be charged under the Fraud Act, which carries a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment. In the past, benefit cheats have usually been pursued under specific social security legislation, which carries a maximum term of seven years.

While benefit fraud of less than £20,000 was previously automatically allocated to the magistrates’ courts, which can only hand out sentences with a maximum of 12 months, the financial threshold will now be abolished. It means that even small cases can be referred to the Crown Court for stronger sentencing if the circumstances are warranted, in an acknowledgement of the widespread and damaging nature of the offence.