Kimberworth benefits cheat drove a Porsche

A BENEFITS cheat who fiddled £23,000 while driving a Porsche and buying two houses has been jailed for 14 months.

Paul Russell (38), was falsely paid incapacity benefit for nearly six years from 2001 after he claimed that he could not work because of a bad back and also drew Council Tax and housing benefits.

In fact, self-employed builder Russell—whom a judge accused of "milking the system"—was earning around £50,000 a year and had bought a £135,000 second home in Kimberworth, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

When fraud inspectors first visited Russell, he insisted on being interviewed in bed, claiming he was in so much pain he could not get up.

But Russell was actually running a building firm making between £44,000 and £59,000 a year.

The court heard that he had savings of around £4,000 when he started claiming in 2001, already making him ineligible for full incapacity benefit because of a limit of £3,000 at that time.

By November 2003, he had enough money to buy his council house in Sheffield, for £18,500 and in 2006 secured a £35,000 loan—while his bank balance remained £16,000 above the loan amount.

In September 2006, he secured a mortgage for £114,000 towards buying a second house in Hungerhill Road, Kimberworth, for £135,000. The balance was paid in cash.

He also managed to buy a £28,000 Porsche in 2005.

In January 2007, Russell refinanced his Sheffield house for £73,500, in order to pay off the mortgage on his Kimberworth property.

Russell now rents out the Sheffield house for £380 a month.