Bradford man falsely claimed almost £40,000 Universal Credit

Hafiz Mughal, 37, of Nuttall Road, Barkerend, falsely claimed a total of £39,811.97 in Universal Credit for himself between April 20, 2020 and March 19, 2022.

He wrongly reported to the benefit authorities that he was renting a second property, when in fact he owned it. This meant he was able to declare housing benefits under the Universal Credit payment scheme.

Mughal also made another claim relating to people who might depend on him - but that proved to be ineligible.

Man falsely claimed almost £40,000 in Universal Credit (Image: PA)

He logged on to his benefit account online on a number of occasions making false declarations over his period of offending, Bradford Crown Court heard on November 30.

Mughal was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years, for the offence of dishonestly make a false statement to obtain a benefit/advantage/payment.

Abigail Langford, prosecuting, said: “It was dishonest and fraudulent from the outset.

“The amount that he obtained is a significant amount of money.

“He continued to claim on the grounds of low income and that he had no capital assets.”

In mitigation, the court heard Mughal was going through depression at the time he falsely claimed the benefit.

His mitigating counsel added: “He (Mughal) got confused by the form and there was no-one to ask at the time due to the pandemic."

Once he realised what he had done, Mughal, who had no previous convictions, reported himself to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). He has yet to pay back any of the money he falsely claimed.

Sentencing, Recorder Patrick Palmer told Mughal: “You had failed to declare that you had a second property.

“You were using the benefits system to purchase properties, in effect.

“You declared you were renting a property when you owned a property to obtain benefit of Universal Credit.

“You declared you were on a low income and had no capital assets.

“You may have been of good character hitherto. You self-reported your fraud to the benefits agency.

“Your offending was thoroughly dishonest. You must make sure you keep out of trouble.”

Mughal was also ordered to carry out 250 hours unpaid work for the community and must perform 30 activity days for the offence.

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