A former Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) executive officer has been sentenced to 32 months in prison after swindling £50,000 from the benefits system through fraudulent Universal Credit applications.
Rafiq Master, 50, from Blackburn, exploited his position within the DWP to submit bogus claims, taking particular advantage of relaxed identity verification procedures introduced during the coronavirus pandemic.
Preston Crown Court heard that prior to Covid, claimants were required to verify their identity in person at a Jobcentre.
Master capitalised on the removal of this safeguard to facilitate his criminal scheme, which ran between April 2019 and October 2020.
The scheme involved 51 separate claims submitted under 41 different names, of which 31 resulted in fraudulent payments totalling £50,000.
Master operated by submitting applications for advance Universal Credit payments before promptly closing the claims once money had been transferred.
Four bank accounts were used to receive the stolen funds, one belonging to his accomplice Khalid Yusuf, 69, also from Blackburn.
The fraud was uncovered through an internal DWP investigation in 2021, leading to Master's dismissal.
He was sentenced at Preston Crown Court
|PA
He subsequently pleaded guilty to fraud at Preston Crown Court.
Many of the fraudulent applications were made using the personal details of unsuspecting individuals who had no knowledge their identities were being exploited.
The court heard that after the scheme was detected, some of these innocent people received correspondence demanding repayment of overpayments they had never actually received.
When these individuals disputed the demands, the DWP withdrew the repayment requests.
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He exploited his position within the DWP to submit bogus claims
| PAMaster had previously maintained an unblemished decade-long career with the department before his criminal activity came to light.
The court was told he came from what the judge described as an "otherwise decent and law abiding family" and had undertaken community work.
Passing sentence, the Honorary Recorder of Preston, Judge Robert Altham, condemned Master's exploitation of pandemic measures designed to protect public safety.
"It is an unattractive feature of this case that you were benefiting from the pandemic when everyone else was suffering," the judge remarked, though he noted the fraud had begun before coronavirus restrictions were implemented.
The court heard Master had been struggling with loan repayments whilst funding his children's higher education when he committed the offences.
Judge Altham stated that only immediate imprisonment could serve as appropriate punishment for someone who had abused such a position of trust.
Yusuf, who laundered proceeds through his bank accounts, admitted acquiring criminal property and received a 12-month community order with 10 days of rehabilitation activities and a £500 fine.