A MONMOUTH woman who appeared before Abergavenny Magistrates Court last week pleaded guilty to committing benefit fraud. A routine data match by Monmouthshire County Council discovered that Jill Pritchard, of 2, Patterson Way, Monmouth, claimed housing and council tax benefit from Monmouthshire County Council between May 2003 and October 2006, despite having savings that meant she was not eligible to claim. This resulted in an overpayment of £2.036.22 in Council Tax benefit and of £17,182.58 in Housing benefit. In addition to the overpayment which Miss Pritchard has to repay, she was given a community order with 120 hours of unpaid work to be carried out within the next 12 months, and ordered to pay £500 legal costs. Monmouthshire County Council said that they are not prepared to accept any form of benefit fraud and is warning people that they use all the methods available to them to identify fraudulent claimants and take appropriate action. Monmouthshire County Council works closely with the Department for Works and Pensions to detect fraud across all benefit types. Leader of the Council, Andrew Crump said: "We can also use methods like handwriting analysis and surveillance equipment to catch fraudsters out and we can find out if declared bank accounts have been gaining interest or find out if someone has entered employment. "We receive and appreciate referrals that are given to us, often by members of the public who report their suspicions of benefit fraud. These can give us good leads to investigate those who are not entitled to the money they are claiming." Between April 2006 and the end of March 2007 MCC had 186 referrals, all bar two of which were investigated. The referrals that aren't investigated tend to be because it is found that the person is already being investigated, is not claiming benefit or they have already notified us of a change of circumstances. MCC has also received a lot of information from data matches that have helped to crack down on benefit fraudsters. Data matching is one of a number of very effective tools available to fraud investigators seeking to uncover the financial circumstances of benefit claimants. In the last financial year, there have been 317 data matches where information held is compared with information supplied by other government agencies like the Department of Work and Pensions and the Inland Revenue. Andrew Crump said: "It is the responsibility of all those who claim benefits to correctly declare their circumstances at the outset and then to notify any changes that could affect their claim. Ignorance is not an excuse.
