Benefit fraudster John Watkinson jailed after fiddling more than £118k | Mail Online: "offshore account in Jersey and villas in Spain and Turkey, the company director and his wife enjoyed a millionaire lifestyle. But for more than a decade Watkinson, 69, pleaded poverty and told officials he had just £20 to his name. John Watkinson and his wife in front of their yacht in Turkey. He claimed £118,000 in benefits while declaring he had just £20 in the bankOver a 13-year period he claimed almost £120,000 in housing and council tax benefit, income support and pension credits. Yesterday he was behind bars after being jailed for two years when his benefits scam was uncovered by investigators. Liverpool Crown Court heard Watkinson pretended he was out of work and needed benefits to pay for his rented accommodation. But in reality he had secretly set up a firm in Gibraltar to act as a front for all his dealings. And three upmarket homes for which he claimed rent were actually wholly-owned by his company, Brooklyn Holdings Ltd. Over the years Watkinson used this company to buy a series of top-of-the-range boats and luxury villas in Marbella and Turkey. He also splashed out on a £42,000 luxury yacht named Phil-A-Me after his 51-year-old wife Philamena.David McLachlan, prosecuting, told the court that Watkinson fraudulently claimed more than £118,000 in housing and council tax benefit, income support and pension credits between April 1995 and August 2008.During the fraud he claimed he lived in rented homes in the villages of Heswall, Noctorum, and Oxton in the Wirral, when he actually owned them all. All the properties were bought and then sold by Brooklyn Holdings Ltd which left him free to pocket the housing benefit. On one occasion Watkinson's company sold a property and made a £214,000 profit."
You Might Also Like :
0 comments:
Post a Comment