Willesden gambler jailed for �50k benefit fraud

Court heard married father pocketed Housing and Council Tax Benefit while working

A gambler has been jailed for a year after he claimed �50,000 in benefits he and his family weren’t entitled to.

Abid Saeed, 46, of Donnington Road, Willesden, was convicted at Brent Magistrates on eight counts relating to deception, providing false information and failing to declare changes in circumstances.

The court heard how greedy Saeed received �55,097 in overpaid housing and council tax benefit from 1999 until 2010.

Saeed and his wife had claimed they ere on low incomes, had no savings and were therefore entitled to the benefits.

But Brent Council investigators discovered that the couple had multiple bank accounts with some �8,000 in savings in 1999.

By 2005 the pair had accumulated so much money they opened a bond account worth �20,000.

Investigators found out Saeed worked as an electronic technician for Alcatel Submarine Networks in Greenwich in 2007 and 2008 – a job which netted him up to �32,000.

During sentencing Saeed claimed that he was driven by a gambling addict and had since been declared bankrupt. He failed to declare his savings to Brent Council because the money belonged to his children, he added.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Brent Council’s lead member for resources, said: “Anyone claiming benefits to which they are not entitled is robbing their neighbours and tax payers.”

Anyone with information about someone falsely claiming benefits should call 0800 937 777.