A Dundee shopkeeper who fought a decade-long battle with the government over whether he is related to his father has admitted conning more than £20,000 in benefits in his dead dad’s name.
Hassan Mirza, 39, had his case raised in parliament by SNP MP Stewart Hosie in 2018, after the Passport Office told him he did not have documentation proving who his father was.
At Dundee Sheriff Court on Friday, Mirza admitted pretending his father – who died in February 2014 – was still alive and that he had power of attorney.
He illegally claimed £19,429.36 from the Department of Work and Pensions over a two-year period.
He further admitted defrauding Dundee City Council of £2,535.68 in the same manner, between March 3 2017 and October 15 2017.
Mirza, of Cowgate, Dundee, had his sentence deferred until November 22.
Criminal and social work reports and a restriction of liberty assessment will be prepared on the former owner of the News Centre shop on Strathmartine Road.
Decade-long passport battle
Mirza previously hit the headlines in 2018 when his decade-long fight to get a new passport was raised in the House of Commons.
Passport office officials refused to supply a new document for travel to Pakistan to see his three children – because they did not believe he was related to his father.
The case was even raised by Stewart Hosie MP at Prime Minister’s Questions.
Then-Prime Minister Theresa May promised to have the case examined.
Despite having 30 documents proving his identity, the Passport Office rejected Mirza’s application three times.
It said he was “unable provide non-contemporaneous historical documentation to establish the relationship between Mr Mirza’s claimed father as well as his identity”.
He said he cried tears of joy when he eventually gained a new passport in 2019, having spent around £20,000 on the legal battle.
