Mum claimed benefit for 15 fake children
MOTHER-OF-TWO Asima Faisal has been jailed for 12 months after claiming to care for 15 children she didn't have.
The 27-year-old, from Jubilee Avenue, Etruria, was overpaid by more than £38,000 in tax credits after filling in forms and making calls to a helpline.
Fourteen of the children's names were fictitious. Another was that of a young girl who received treatment at Specsavers in Longton, where Faisal worked.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard yesterday Faisal first made fraudulent claims in 2005 and carried on until 2007 despite being investigated by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from 2006. In total, she was overpaid £38,679.
Her husband Failsal Mahmood, from whom she has now separated, did not know what she was doing, the court heard.
But just weeks after discovering he was being investigated, £17,000 was withdrawn from his wife's building society account and transferred into his own.
He pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property and was jailed for six months.
Prosecutor Raymond Herman, representing HMRC, said Faisal's first application was fraudulent from the outset.
"She made false claims, claims for inflated child care, claims for children who were fictitious, and said others were disabled to boost the tax credit.
"She made around 500 calls to the helpline."
The court heard Faisal was interviewed in November, 2006, and again in January, 2007, when she made admissions she had made inflated claims. But just more than a week later, she called to falsely assert her care costs had risen and reiterated it on a tax form in June, 2007.
Mr Herman said aggravating features of Faisal's offending were the length of the fraud, the large sum involved, it was fraudulent from the start, she persisted with it despite being investigated, the wide nature of the offence and the breach of trust involved.
Alexander Jacobs, defending Faisal, who admitted 18 offences of fraud, asked for her to be given a suspended sentence for the sake of her children.
He said Faisal had been forced into the marriage by her parents and was saving the money to leave her husband.
"She found it so easy to make a telephone call and receive money for nothing. It was need, not greed. There was no evidence of lavish living."
But Judge Robert Trevor-Jones told Faisal: "Over 18 months, you became greedier and greedier.
"Your claims were cynical, sustained, bold and quite sophisticated."
Related content:
Mother jailed after £52k benefit fraud
41 Comments
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by ????????, shelton
Tuesday, September 15 2009, 6:41PM
“i wonder if all of you are blind did you not read the newspaper,well i guess not because she is asian you have to call her scum, she should be sent back to her country, she is a british citizen and after all what about all the white junkies, drugys, unemployed, good for nothing making false claims wer should gorden brown kick them out to the slums well she did get a prison sentence and the white gal who had a 10 year old child got a suspended sentence for claiming more then 50k aint she scum aint she ripped the taxpayer like me and you, well it goes to show white people will always be white”
by Hard working Brit!, Stafford Borough
Tuesday, June 09 2009, 1:42PM
“????? Shelton
Can you not spell in English??
Your spelling is dusgusting!!”
by ?????, shelton
Monday, June 08 2009, 3:58PM
“how can you say that they should be sent back to thier own countrys they were born in the UK fair enough she has done wrong but you can't say send them back...i would say she Should be in prison longer then a year.. but all u ppl hu fink these kinda of ppl shud Be sent bak FINK AGEN...if a white person did wah she did wer wud u send them...eva fort that”
by Warren, Meir
Monday, June 08 2009, 12:11PM
“Hard working mum, I'd just keep reporting her untill something gets done about it, dole dossing scum or just on the fiddel, they all need rooting out, just like the fiddeling MPs. Root the lot of them out, and lets see justice done for once.”
by Lisa, Cheadle
Sunday, June 07 2009, 10:44PM
“Ughhmm, it seems the less you work the more you get. I aren't racist because there are British White people playing the benefits game as well. Claiming for disability and needing a holiday in the sun due to stress - paid for by us tax payers - getting a house paid for whilst still owning another house and renting that out to a family member who is also claiming. What is this country coming to I ask you? We need to stop them from taking the micky from us hard working members of society because I for one am sick of it all!”
by hard working mum, Stoke
Sunday, June 07 2009, 7:20PM
“Its about time all of these thieving people, whatever race, colour, or creed, were sought out and sorted out. I know a woman who has been claiming as a single mum for over 5 years now, and her partner has lived with her all of that time. She's been reported loads of times, by lots of people, and she STILL gets away with it!”
by kelly, stoke
Sunday, June 07 2009, 3:35PM
“its disgusting people see a "foriegn name" and make assumptions this is what makes me ashamed of our country.This should not be about race colour creed it should be a discussion on the fact she had faked 15 children whom she said were disabled.The outrage should be about this and how she got help and genuine cases have to fill in forms that are 30+ pages long and many questions are totally unanswearble.”
by Warren, Meir
Sunday, June 07 2009, 3:00PM
“Off we go again, depot them, send them back 'wom. Some of you are realy idieotic, have any of you stoped to think that they may have been born in this country. What they did was out of order, they desirve to go to prison, but being kicked out of there country of birth, its a bit much. As with all cases like this, both sould not get any more benifits, for life.”
by Julie, Staffordshire
Sunday, June 07 2009, 2:57PM
“I blame the Govt. for having them in this country in the first place”
by keith, France
Sunday, June 07 2009, 2:33PM
“Surely its time the Gov had inspectors going out and checking these cases in situ, make people prove their case before handing out the money.i dont care how much it inconveniences them if its genuine they have no problem.As for these two lets hope they have plenty of time to repent and let their friends and relatives know it just isnt worth it.”