Benefits fraudster duo sentenced after stealing £630,000 to help build 'Monopoly' style property empire

A duo who swindled £630,000 out of the Department of Work and Pensions in order to build a "Monopoly"-style property empire has been sentenced.

Steve and Kim Benstock made false claims to the DWP while failing to declare earnings to the taxman for two decades.

Kim, 67, was able to claim disability living allowance because of her rheumatoid arthritis.

However, they also lied about their property portfolio and rental profits, bank balance, plus Steve's wages to claim other benefits.

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how not long after the couple first married in 1996, Steve adopted a number of aliases, including Steve Twinley.

He would then use this name to sign documents and open bank accounts, plus using the separate alias Steve Cash on a driving licence to trick the Department of Work and Pensions.

In the end, he had 10 accounts with Nationwide and seven with HSBC, as well as more shared accounts with his wife, reports The Sun.

Prosecutor Alex Davidson said the couple were able to amass an "impressive collection of properties reminiscent of the popular board game Monopoly".

Mr Davidson told the court how the couple "committed benefit fraud by claiming benefits they were not entitled to because they had income and assets over the threshold for those benefits".

"They committed tax fraud by failing to make tax returns when Mr Benstock was gainfully employed, giving rise to income tax, and by failing to disclose the sale of multiple properties, which gave rise to capital gains tax."

Some of the properties they amassed included a flat in Tower Hamlets, a £223,000 home in Essex and an apartment in Fuerteventura.

The couple also purchased two homes in Romford, Essex, worth £240,000 and £690,000 and two further houses in East London and Ilford.

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Over the years, the couple held between them around £400,000 in property, with another £32,000 in a shared bank account.

Steve was also earning wages working at a pub in West Ham, which he also occasionally ran. He cheated a total of £253,713.18 in benefits, while failing to declare £285,977.92 to the taxman, a total fraud of £539,691.10.

Kim cheated £61,993.08 in benefits, while failing to declare £26,347, a total fraud of £88,340.08. The total fraud amounted to £628,031.18, the court was told.

Steve has now been jailed for five years, while Kim was handed a nine-month suspended sentence.

Steve denied but was convicted of 12 offences, including fraud by false representation, tax evasion offences, failing to disclose information, failing to notify and change in circumstances and obtaining a money transfer by deception.

Kim was convicted of seven counts, including cheating the public revenue, but cleared on two counts of evading income tax and national insurance contributions.

Work and Pensions Minister for Transformation, Andrew Western, said: "This is a stark example of the kind of brazen fraud that this Government is determined to root out.

"While the Benstocks were acting like Monopoly tycoons, collecting rental income from the comfort of lavish properties with outdoor pools, they were helping themselves to benefits they had absolutely no right to.

"The game is now up and this case should be a warning to others that the DWP is ramping up its efforts, working closely with partner agencies like HMRC, to identify and prosecute fraudsters."