Jailed benefits cheat must pay back £190,000 (From This Is Lancashire)

Jailed benefits cheat must pay back £190,000

7:43am Tuesday 27th October 2009 in News

A TEACHER who was jailed after masterminding a complex benefit fraud has been ordered to pay back almost £190,000 or face going back to prison.

Hatam Abbas, a supply maths teacher, was jailed last December for 18 months after a three-year investigation unravelled a tangle of housing benefit scams.

Abbas, aged 41, of The Walkway, Ladybridge, had made benefit claims for properties across Bolton, lying about who owned them and who lived there.

He used the thousands of pounds he made from the scam, which he committed with his wife, Nada Abbas, and half-brother Nabil Abbas, to pay off mortgages, buy a Mercedes car and refurbish a house.

Hatam Abbas, who came to England from Iraq in 1990, appeared to be an honest, hardworking man and even founded an Arabic Saturday school in Bolton.

But yesterday, at Bolton Crown Court during a proceeds of crime hearing, a confiscation order was made by Recorder Mark Gosnell, requiring him to pay £80,091.20.

The court was told he plans to raise the money from the sale of property and he was given six months to pay or be sent back to prison for 18 months.

In addition, he has been given 12 months to pay Bolton Council £70,091.20 in compensation and a further £38,427 in legal costs.

A council spokesman said: “We are extremely pleased with Mr Abbas having to pay the total amount of £188,609.40, which will mean Mr Abbas repaying the money he defrauded.

“This case should serve as a warning to anyone tempted to cheat or defraud the benefit system.

“As well as seeking to get back money overpaid, the council can take action to confiscate assets resulting from it.”

jrowe@theboltonnews.co.uk