‘Dead dad’ conman to repay just £1 of £22k he stole from taxpayer
A FRAUDSTER who conned the benefits agency out of nearly £22,000 by posing as his dead father has been ordered to pay back just £1.
Hassan Mirza was the subject of a Proceeds of Crime action after duping the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and Dundee City Council.
However, Dundee Sheriff Court was told the Crown had agreed to accept just £1 from Mirza, 40, to bring the action to an end.
Businessman Mirza, who had mounted up debts of £30,000, was jailed for eight months on Tuesday when he admitted to two charges of fraud.
Yesterday, the court was told that the Crown and Mirza’s lawyers had agreed a joint minute confirming that he would be handing over £1 under Proceeds of Crime legislation.
Earlier, it emerged he had posed as his 72-year-old father – three years after he had died – to launch claims for benefits which eventually totalled almost £22,000.
Mirza initially claimed that he had power of attorney for his father, used his details to fill out claims forms and then pretended to be the dead man during phone calls.
Sheriff John Rafferty told him: ‘This was a fraudulent scheme from the outset.
‘It commenced in March 2017 and continued until June 2019. At no stage did you decide to abandon this scheme.
‘The pretence was that you were your late father, and as a result of that fraudulent scheme, you obtained very close to £22,000 of state funds.
‘Of that money, you have repaid nothing.
‘As far as making amends, you have shown the desire to make none, by paying nothing back to the Government.’
Mirza confessed that between 6 March, 2017 and 13 June, 2019 he obtained £19,429.36 by fraud from the DWP.
He also admitted pretending to be his father to Dundee City Council to con them into paying him £2,535.68 in housing benefit between 6 March and 15 October, 2017.