Younes Izouaouen claimed almost £400,000 in ten years from six different London boroughs.
A three-year jail sentence handed down to a benefits cheat was “well deserved” according to Kensington and Chelsea Council.
Younes Izouaouen, 45, claimed almost £400,000 in ten years from six different London boroughs.
Izouaouen and his brother Samir, 36, used false documents to claim benefits from Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Brent, Greenwich, Southwark and Barking and Dagenham.
A Kensington and Chelsea spokesman said: “This was a huge fraud, across six boroughs, which deprived the public purse of money that should have gone to people in genuine need.
“The prison sentence was well deserved.”
Around £385,000 was illegally claimed through over 20 forged housing benefit applications.
Approximately £15,000 was claimed in other benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Izouaouen, of Thamesmead, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court.
His brother received an eight-month suspended sentence after admitting a lesser role in the crime.
The brothers used bogus passports, national insurance cards and payslips as part of the scam.
Greenwich Council officials worked with police officers who searched Izouaouen’s home and found the counterfeit documents and equipment to make fake credit cards.
According to the DWP’s preliminary figures for 2010/11, fraudulent benefit payments in the UK cost an estimated £1.2billion.
In the same period, an estimated £290million was fraudulently claimed in housing benefits alone.
According to Kensington and Chelsea Council, benefit fraud is a relatively minor problem within the borough.
The council spokesman said: “Comparatively speaking fraud isn’t a big problem for us, but we tackle it robustly wherever we find it.”
“Currently the government are looking at the possibility of entirely centralising the housing benefit process and taking it out of local government hands.”
If you have information regarding benefit theft please contact the DWP on 0800 854 440 or visit http://campaigns.dwp.gov.uk/campaigns/benefit-thieves/
