fraud Tag

The Great Inertia Sector: A whistleblower’s account of council work where staff pull six-month sickies

In his emergency Budget this week, Chancellor George Osborne announced he was cutting public sector expenditure by 25 per cent. Unions have declared the cuts irresponsible. But are they? Here, one employee for a large inner London authority lifts the lid on the culture of inertia and incompetence at his workplace. The Mail knows the [...]

Three jailed over £1.3m adult learning contracts scam

Three people have been jailed over an adult learning skills contracts scam in Shropshire. Paul Kent, 46, of Telford, admitted receiving about £300,000 in kickbacks from Learning Skills Council contracts worth £1.3m, which he granted to his co-defendants. He was jailed for four and a half years at Birmingham Crown Court. Silinder Singh Sidhu, of [...]

Rossendales, Local Authority And LGO

I’ll try to keep this short. I’ve had to deal with North East Lincolnshire Council and their bailiffs Rosendales over council tax. It has been going on for well over a year due to the FARCE, which is the formal complaints procedure with both the council and later the Local Government Ombudsman. Calling in the [...]

Bristol Parking Meter Repair Man Jailed Over Cash Theft

A parking meter repairer who pocketed £70,000 from machines he worked on has been jailed for two-and-a-half years. Arthur Blay, of Blackwood, Caerphilly, operated the scam from 2002 to 2008 while employed by Bristol City Council. The 48-year-old was caught when investigators marked coins with a liquid which is only visible under ultra-violet light. His [...]

Police investigate Council over insurance fraud allegations

Police Officers from Accrington’s Criminal Investigation Department are investigating allegations concerning insurance fraud involving Hyndburn Borough Council. Following an internal Council investigation where the Council “found no evidence of fraud”, police are now investigating allegations of unaccounted funding of the refurbishment of a coach house in Oakhill Park that was severely damaged by fire in [...]

Council Officer stole disabled parking permit for free parking

A blue badge parking permit was stolen by a Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council Officer who then fraudulently used the badge to obtain free car parking. The badge was originally returned to the Council after the user, a disabled person, died.  However, Choudhury Mohammed Shahran abused his position at the Council’s customer services department by stealing [...]

Council Officer stole taxpayers money

A Council Officer pleaded guilty at Magistrates Court to charges of theft of more that £13,000 of Council Taxpayers money. Abigail Clement, 31, from Middle St George near Darlington, processed 125 counterfeit transactions to obtain the money whilst working in Darlington Borough Council’s Public Protection Division. After the Council discovered irregular transactions, Clement resigned after [...]

Benefits fraudster gets Council job back

A fraudster who stole more than £50,000 in benefits from taxpayers has won his job back at Trafford Council in Greater Manchester. In August this year, Andrew Wood, 45, was found guilty of illegally claiming benefits despite working full time at the Council and narrowly avoided prison for his crime. Wood appealed to the Council [...]