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Risca couple guilty of £93,000 benefit fraud

A GWENT couple lied for years in order to swindle more than £93,000 in benefits they were not entitled to.

FRAUD: Rachel Loisz FRAUD: Rachel Loisz

Rachel Loisz and Richard Holland, both 40, cheated the Department for Work and Pensions out of £93,240.19 by lying about the fact they were a couple living together for more than seven years.

Cardiff Crown Court heard yesterday that Loisz, of Trafalgar Street, Risca, moved into an address in Holly Road, Risca, in March 2003. She told the DWP and council in her change of circumstance form that Holland was her landlord and he lived in Malpas Road, Newport.

The couple maintained this lie for years until the DWP and Caerphilly council received a tip-off they were partners.

Prosecutor Nuhu Gobir told the court when Loisz was interviewed under caution in February 2011, she confessed they were a couple and had been living together since 2003.

She also admitted Holland, of Dewston Street, Newport, was the father of one of her children, whereas previously she said she did not know who the father was.

Between March 2003 and April, 2010, Loisz falsely claimed £70,961.55 in income support, £3,206.28 in council tax benefit and £19,072.36 in housing benefit.

The couple has since split up and Loisz is repaying the money at a rate of £100 per month and has repaid £762.

Holland pleaded guilty to two counts of false accounting, making a false instrument, fraud by false representation and possession of criminal property. Owen Williams, defending, said he accepts his wrongdoing.

Loisz pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining benefits, making a false instrument, making false representations, failing to notify a change of circumstances and dishonestly obtaining a money transfer.

Eugene Egan, for Loisz, said she admitted her guilt straight away and was a mother to a six-month old baby and 11-year-old, as well as three children over 18.

Holland was jailed for 15 months, Loisz got a 12- month sentence, suspended for 18 months.


Comments (9)

17/07/12

richie55 says...

Yet another suspended sentence for what amounts to theft of tens of thousands of pounds in benefit fraud. It is time these people were jailed for a long time as a deterent to others!

17/07/12

readyfreddie1 says...

Disgusting when some families get to spend very little time together through having to go out and work to earn their money and show their independants the good way of life, that you have to work for what you get and that everything is not handed to you on a plate or through sheer deceitfulness. Yet again we are proven to be the idiots by this woman being awarded a Suspended Sentence, should hang her head in shame.

18/07/12

chris227 says...

then only penalty is to pay back the money and a suspended sentence mmm

18/07/12

sightseeker says...

if they go to prision like a hoilday for them and more tax payers money children suffer goin into care more tax payers money give them food vouchers

18/07/12

NakedDancer says...

£93,000 at £100 per month thats 77 years, not counting the interest since 2002. As she's already 40 it will never be paid back. Why is this a suspended sentence - surely community service is the answer.

18/07/12

koifisher says...

mmmmm whats the point working, she will get the same pension as someone whos worked all there lives , and then she wont have to sell her house if she ever needs to go into a care home for old age , as she dont own one ,,,weres the dole office .

18/07/12

aevs74 says...

Please see my comments on the article about young girl losing benefits.

Another example of the scum walking the streets of the UK today.

19/07/12

Bobevans says...

There is little point in working nowadays.If you do not work you are in many cases a lot better off.

If you fiddle benefits there is no real benefit. No jail no community service and just pay a few pound a week back and forget about the interest as well

Radical changes are needed the benefits system is so generous and so lax that fraud will continue to grow.

Those that fiddle benefits dont pay tax or NI, dont pay for their pension or children and dont pay for care.

It typically costs about £20K a year for care. Say someone is in care for 5 years thats a £100K. Typical working like say 4 years so that has cost someone that is working about £3K a year. Cost if you spent your life not working and fiddling benefits ZERO

I think a start would be to make all benefits liable to Tax & NI. THis would also in effect reduce benefits by about 20% meaning that benefits would no longer be higher than minimum wage so it makes working more attractive

My view is this wooman should be made to do community service. I would take the money she has fiddled and divided by the minimum wage. Lets say thats £6 an hour. Which means she should do about 15,000 hours of community service. This could be reduced if she pays some of the money back.

Uselly what happens when they are ordered to pay it back they pay it for a few months and then stop and nothing is done about it.

19/07/12

branistan says...

if the government adjusted the tax codes to make it worthwhile living as man and wife, things would be different. As it is people are struggling to survive in todays economic climate and will take most opportunities to make money. People are talking about prison and stuff, dont forget the banks and multinational companies are the biggest fraudsters going. Not condoning what they have done but put it into perspective and hammer the big fish and treat small fry in kind.

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