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 20 July 2008 08:01 BST

Man jailed after claiming benefits for '36 children'

Thursday, 15 May 2008 13:43
Father-of-two jailed after fraudulently claiming almost £80,000 in benefits
A father-of-two has been jailed after fraudulently claiming almost £80,000 in benefits for 36 children.

For over three years, Irvin Fraser, 30, claimed child tax credits from two addresses in Aberdeen.

He received a total of £79,718 in benefits from HM Revenue and Customs for the imaginary children.

Fraser was jailed for 13 months today at Aberdeen sheriff court after previously admitting making the fraudulent claims between November 2003 and June 2006.

He stated: "I was claiming child tax credit for my son and just added another name by chance.

"They never asked for any documents. It went on for two years and I got away with it.

"I couldn't understand why they did not pick up on it. How could someone claim to have so many children but not be old enough to have them?

"I wanted to stop but it just snowballed and spiralled out of control. I withdrew my last claim but they still paid £4,000 into the bank account.

"I stupidly spent it, and that's when I got caught."

Fraser admitted to spending the money on "spoiling his children rotten" and his wedding in 2005.

During the trial, his lawyer, Shane Campbell claimed: "It may be as a result of this particular case that the Department of Work and Pensions, I'm sure, will have revisited their methods of keeping a check and verifying claims of this particular nature.

"But that's how easy it was for him to become involved."End of story


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