Should We Congratulate HBC ?

lancsdave · 13-10-2008, 21:30

In some ways I think HBC should be congratulated on catching 193 cheats. On the other hand why didn't they prosecute them

Â£78,000 council tax fraud uncovered at Hyndburn (From Lancashire Telegraph)

cashman · 13-10-2008, 21:35

in answer to yer question NO. whilst its good cheaters are caught, end of the day its their job to sort it, n i can think of much bigger stuff they done ****** all about fer years.

lancsdave · 13-10-2008, 21:54

Does anyone know if they charge interest on the repayment ? Might get myself one of these loans if they don't

MargaretR · 13-10-2008, 22:07

The way I read that - they simply compared the electoral list with the households where persons were claiming to live alone.
This shows naive stupidity on the part of the persons who committed the fraud, and leads me to ask -

1.- why was the electoral list not checked at the time the claim was made, and anually thereafter?

2.- what is being done to detect the households who claim this 'single person' reduction and have had the sense to make the electoral list show them as living alone?

A lazy fraud excercise which should not have been neccessary

garinda · 13-10-2008, 23:20

Each week we read in the local press the names of those prosecuted, and fined, for not paying their television licence.

Perhaps if the council had the determination to prosecute these fraudsters, the Observer could have produced a full colour suplement for it's readers.

cashman · 13-10-2008, 23:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

Each week we read in the local press the names of those prosecuted, and fined, for not paying their television licence.

Perhaps if the council had the determination to prosecute these fraudsters, the Observer could have produced a full colour suplement for it's readers.

yeh whatabout "Hyndburns Fraudsters" next year?

garinda · 13-10-2008, 23:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by cashman

yeh whatabout "Hyndburns Fraudsters" next year?

....and all their friends and families could vote for them, and the winner could be announced as the main, front page, story.

Benipete · 14-10-2008, 00:26

Tip of the iceberg,Next stop Housing Benefit Fraud.
Though you do realise it could close two more pubs.

Neil · 14-10-2008, 07:13

Quote from that link ---

Quote:

brok, Congresbury says...
4:33pm Sun 12 Oct 08
Wow! 193 Hyndburn citizens defrauded a total of £78,000 - an average of £404 each "some of which dated back years". Now, I wonder what £404 spread over years will come to? A groat a day?

There are 81496 residents in the Hydnburn area, 99.7637% of whom are NOT defrauding the council tax.
I wonder how much this world breaking investigation cost and whether the officer responsible for uncovering this fraud will be sent to Iceland to threaten the banks there with his gumshoe skills?

Nearly as good as man bites dog.

Talk about damned if you do, damned if you don't

I think all fraudsters should be targeted and caught. I also think all 193 should be taken to court and prosecuted for fraud. It would make a lot more people think twice before trying it themselves.

So to answer the question Dave, yes they should be congratulated, I know it is their job to catch them but it is nice for us honest tax payers to read about the Council catching fraudsters.

Neil · 14-10-2008, 08:04

I wonder if anyone on here will admit to getting caught committing this fraud?

WillowTheWhisp · 14-10-2008, 08:22

Yes they should be congratulated and as for the stupid comment in the report it's things like that attitude which allows people to get away with diddling the rest of us.

I was thinking to myself how much would prosecution cost and would it put our council takes up to cover the cost until I read this:

Quote:

I wonder how much this world breaking investigation cost and whether the officer responsible for uncovering this fraud will be sent to Iceland to threaten the banks there with his gumshoe skills?

That swayed my opinion in the opposite direction.

Neil · 14-10-2008, 09:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by WillowTheWhisp

That swayed my opinion in the opposite direction.

So which way are you swaying?

As for prosecution, is fraud not a criminal offence and should the cost not come from the Crown Prosecution Service?

The fraud should be reported to the Police, how many times do the Council ask us to report things like public nuisance and vandalism to the Police?

Is it do as we say not as we do?

WillowTheWhisp · 14-10-2008, 09:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil

So which way are you swaying?

I was swaying in the direction of thinking it could be money wasted better spent elsewhere, but now I am swaying towards thinking why the billy thump shouldn't they be prosecuted. It's fraud. The rest of us law abiding residents pay higher council tax bills when people diddle their way out of paying. Yes prosecute and make more investigations in future to ensure it doesn't happen again.

MargaretR · 14-10-2008, 10:04

The costs of this investigation will be one junior clerk's wages for one day at most.
When I was at DHSS this type of check was regular practice and that is why I say that it should have been made annually as a matter of course, and not wait until some have got away with it for years.

West Ender · 14-10-2008, 14:16

It often follows that the person defrauding Council Tax, in this way, is claiming to be single for several other things as well. If any of them are on Income Support they may well have made a single claim and the same applies to Tax Credits. HMRC, these days, works closely with Councils and the DSS/DoE and this type of fraud follows a recognisable pattern. There may be much more money to be recouped than the reported Council Tax figure.