Taxpayer fury as wealthy cheat is spared jail despite £70k fraud
A WEALTHY property owner has been spared a jail sentence despite admitting a £68,289 benefit fraud.
The decision to allow Geoffrey Sims, 66, to walk free sparked outrage last night.
Sims admitted five fraud offences involving claiming £44,137 in pension credits from the Department for Work and Pensions, £16,900 in council tax benefit and £7,252 in Employment and Support Allowance in the name of a relative.
Croydon Crown Court in south London heard he was not the down-at-heel claimant that he made himself out to be.
Instead Sims, of Keston, Bromley, south London, who had made £600,000 from selling land, was a wealthy man, the court was told.
He owned his own house and rented out two others, had raised cash from the sale of a house in Spain and had inherited more than £16,000. He had more than £42,000 invested in premium bonds, more than £102,000 in the bank and two private pension schemes.
Suspended sentences are no way to punish people who have deliberately and shamelessly ripped off the taxpayer
He was sentenced to 10 months in jail, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay back what he falsely claimed.
Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said yesterday: “Suspended sentences are no way to punish people who have deliberately and shamelessly ripped off the taxpayer.”
And Neil Reddin, a member of Bromley Council, said: “We believe a custodial sentence would have been appropriate in this case given the amount involved and the failure to declare considerable assets.
“We must ensure that public funds are only used for those in genuine need.”
