A working Dundee dad made up a fictitious landlord and invented multiple children to make illegal DWP claims to fund his drug addiction.
Darren King, 36, used the services of a benefits fixer to claim thousands of ill-gotten pounds.
King paid the unknown man £200 to set up his benefits claims and began to make false statements in July 2019.
King contacted Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) staff between July and August that year and told them he had four dependent children.
He only had two.
He also invented a fictional landlord named Sam Reid, who he said was charging him £475 a month in rent.
King managed to pilfer £1,525.44 to which he was not entitled.
Further fraudulent claims
The following month, King returned to the DWP to change his circumstances.
Across August and September, he kept the four dependent children claim on his record but told the DWP his living cost had risen to £685.04 per month.
This wrongful claim helped him gain another £1,525.44.
During May and June of 2020, King made another fraudulent claim, telling the DWP he now had a further dependent child.
He also increased his accommodation cost, claiming it had nearly doubled to £1,100.95 each month.
King managed to claim a further £737.96 in illegal payments.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, King admitted knowingly making false statements to the DWP on three occasions, all while acting with another.
Drug habit ‘spiralled’
The flamboyantly-dressed fraudster’s solicitor, Doug McConnell, said: “It’s an unusual situation.
“He’s a man who’s a family man.
“He has two children and he’s still in employment.
“He had a drug habit to the extent that he was taking drugs at his employment.
“Things were spiralling out of control.
“Through the auspices of an individual in the drug trade, he gets in contact with a person.
“They met. This person sets up his account with DWP for £200.”
Money being paid back
When he was caught, King, of Gourdie Street, “immediately” agreed to begin paying cash back.
Mr McConnell explained the remaining sum of approximately £3,200 will be paid back over the next 20 months.
He said: “At home, this has had a significant effect on him.
“On the positive, it’s got him away from drugs.”
Sheriff Robert More described the illegal broker as being “just as liable.”
The sheriff said: “He’s in the sort of bracket where custody might be considered.
“Mr King, I well understand this has had an impact on yourself and your family.
“This was something that was planned and premeditated.
“On the account that there was a significant degree of premeditation and planning, I’m not prepared to dispose of this case by admonition.”
He ordered King to complete 30 hours of unpaid work in the next year.
This was made as a direct alternative to custody.
