A benefit fraudster has walked free from court after dishonestly claiming more than £21,000 despite having thousands of pounds in the bank.
Stewart Goodchild claimed Universal Credit over a four-year period until a fraud investigation identified a bank account of his containing £96,430 in cash.
The 65-year-old had up to £160,000 in his bank account at one point during the fraud, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Ian Windridge, prosecuting, said the defendant started claiming benefits in August 2019 after he quit working in November the previous year to look after his elderly mother.
He said: “At no point between August 2019 and a redeclaration that he made in Augst 2023 did Mr Goodchild notify the department that he had any capital. He did, however, use the notification scheme about changes in his own health condition.
“The maximum permitted capital is £16,000, above this limit people are ineligible to claim benefits. In late 2023, the department learnt that the information supplied was inaccurate.”
Mr Windridge said an investigation was launched and access was secured to his bank accounts which showed he had £68,507 in assets in September 2019.
By the end of his fraudulent claim there was £96,430 in his account and at one point during the four-year period there was as much as £163,993 in his savings.
The court heard how the defendant was overpaid a total of £21,239.57 and a proceeds of crime act (POCA) application will be heard next year.
Goodchild, of Fulthorpe Avenue, Darlington, pleaded guilty to benefit fraud between August 2019 and August 2023.
Amrit Jandoo, mitigating, said his client had simply forgotten about the money in his account at the time of the application and was in a position to repay the money at the conclusion of the POCA hearing.
He said: “It was absentmindedness through the pressure of two very ill parents. I accept an aggravating factor is that it was fraud from the outset.”
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Judge Jo Kidd sentenced Goodchild to 32 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.
“The offending took place for four years,” she said. “It was fraudulent from the outset and you had no need whatsoever for the benefits paid to you over that period of time.
“The impact on society and on taxpayers is that you were unlawfully and unfairly the recipient of that money.”
Goodchild was also ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
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