‘Disabled’ cheat is caught on video delivering parcels
THIS video footage shows a “disabled” benefits cheat hauling large cardboard boxes as he moonlights as a parcel courier.
Paul Carter, 56, raked in £12,500 in taxpayer handouts by claiming he was too physically poorly to work.
But following a tip-off, fraud investigators caught him redhanded on CCTV while he was secretly working.
Warrington Magistrates Court heard a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) team filmed him clearly in no discomfort as he hauled large boxes from his white delivery van.
But Carter, from near Warrington, avoided jail after admitting two counts of benefit fraud.
Magistrates heard he worked as a courier while “cheating the system” between October 2011 and March 2016.
He fraudulently claimed thousands of pounds in disability living allowance and tax credits over a period of four-and-a-half years.
Carter was sentenced to a 12-week community order after admitting two counts of benefit fraud on January 18. He was also handed a three-month curfew and ordered to pay £170. Following his sentencing the DWP released surveillance footage filmed during a joint investigation with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, showing Carter loading his van and delivering boxes and packages to homes.
Yesterday a DWP spokesman said: “Only a small minority of benefit claimants are dishonest. Caught on camera... Benefits cheat Paul Carter, left, is filmed secretly working as a parcel delivery driver. He raked in £12,500 in disability allowance and other hand-outs from taxpayers But cases like this show how we are rooting out the unscrupulous minority who are diverting taxpayers’ money from those who really need it.
“We are determined to find those we suspect of abusing the welfare system by following up on tip-offs, undertaking surveillance and working with local councils.”