A Dundee man has been acquitted of an alleged £30,000 benefit fraud, despite investigators telling the court the claimant had admitted to them that he had lied on claim forms.
Dundee Sheriff Court had also heard that much of the evidence against him had previously been agreed between the Crown and the defence.
Robert Robertson Folan Clark (67), of St Clement Place, was cleared by Sheriff Anwar of claiming a total of £30,964.23 after his defence agent argued he had not been identified in court as the same person who was interviewed by Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and council staff.
In addition, there was only evidence from one witness that Clark’s identity had been established at the time he was interviewed by him in relation to his claims.
Upholding the submission by solicitor David Duncan on Tuesday, Sheriff Anwar said she had no alternative but to acquit Clark.
Clark had denied that on various dates between March 31 2005 and March 31 2010, at 58 Clement Park Place, he obtained benefit of £1,951.62 to which he was not entitled, obtained pension credit amounting to £25,445.41 by fraud and £3,567.20 in council tax benefit, which he was not entitled to.
Fraud investigator Bruce Walker of DWP told the court Clark had confirmed to him that he had lied on his claim forms.
The court heard it was a matter of agreement that Clark had an excess of capital in his bank account that he had not declared.
Mr Walker said: “He said it was money for his two sons from his late wife.”
The witness also agreed a suggestion by depute fiscal, Laura Bruce, that the money had been in his account before Clark’s wife had died in 2006.
The court heard Clark told them that £40,000 had been laid aside for his sons.
Asked why excess funds were in his account, Mr Walker said Clark “couldn’t answer other than to say the information was false initially.”
Dundee City Council benefits investigations officer Michelle Fleming told the court that, along with Mr Walker, they interviewed Clark on December 13 2010.
The court heard he claimed he had just returned from working in Germany in 1999 and various documents relating to council tax benefit, housing benefit and pension credit claims had been signed by Clark.
Ms Fleming told the court: “Mr Clark confirmed that he signed the forms. He provided the answers for the questions he was asked when filling out the forms.”
The court heard Clark had told the investigators he wasn’t sure about his late wife’s finances when they came back from Germany and was “surprised” by the amount of money she had.
Ms Fleming agreed Clark had savings “in excess of proscribed limits” and said he had told Mr Walker he had no extra income coming in, but later in the conversation he admitted he had pension coming in from NCR and Germany.
“He said he had done wrong,” she added.
At the conclusion of the Crown case, Mr Duncan submitted that the only evidence in the case that could be relied on was the joint agreement as Clark had not been identified in court as the person who had been interviewed by the investigating officers.
Sheriff Anward upheld the submission, saying: “There is no evidence that the person before me was the same person who was interviewed. With the greatest of regret, given the seriousness of the charges faced by Mr Clark, I find him not guilty of all three charges.”
awilson@thecourier.co.uk