Tayport man accused of hiding savings to gain £12,000 in benefits

A Tayport man is to stand trial accused of scamming thousands of pounds in disability handouts by hiding two savings accounts from benefits bosses.

Morgan Couper is alleged to have knowingly made false statements to officials of the Department of Work and Pensions over a two-and-a-half-year period.

Prosecutors say that between July 7 2010 and January 1 2013, he claimed employment and support allowance the payment that replaced incapacity benefit totalling £12,289.80 that he was not entitled to.

It is alleged that he told benefits bosses that he did not have savings over the prescribed amount of £16,000 and that he only had access to a Post Office bank account.

However, Couper is accused of hiding two other bank accounts in which he had savings over the limit that would have meant he was no longer entitled to the benefit.

Couper, 43, of Golf Crescent, Tayport, denies a charge under the Social Security Administration Act.

Sheriff Charles Macnair QC set a trial date in March, with a further pre-trial hearing early next month.