Benefits fraudster jailed for £172,000 theft and Eat Out scam

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 31 Oct, 14:45 · Archive

Delivery driver Atikur Rahman was sentenced to 40 months for stealing £172,000 in benefits using 26 false identities.

Atikur Rahman, a 34-year-old delivery driver from Margate, Kent, was sentenced to 40 months imprisonment at Canterbury Crown Court on 30 October after pleading guilty to multiple fraud charges spanning a six-year period from July 2015 to May 2021.

Rahman assumed the identities of his closest friends and family members to steal £172,000 in taxpayer money. He used 26 different identities along with fictitious companies, employment information and non-existent children to submit more than 40 fraudulent claims for multiple benefits including maternity allowance, universal credit, tax credits and child benefit.

According to GB News, Rahman's gambling addiction ultimately destroyed his family home. The stolen funds were channelled through 18 separate bank accounts operating under different names, including those of his wife and various associates. Prosecutor Andrew Evans told the court that claims submitted to HM Revenue and Customs were supported by fabricated payslips purporting to show employment at various restaurant and takeaway establishments that never actually conducted business. Rahman also manipulated the maternity allowance system by completing medical forms ordinarily reserved for midwives or doctors, with applications falsely referencing the Limes medical centre.

Rahman was uncovered when one of the victims of his scam tried to make their own benefit claim in 2018 and staff became suspicious. Officials at the Department for Work and Pensions then discovered the series of claims using hijacked identities.

Rahman also attempted to exploit the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic to support restaurants. He tried to obtain more than £62,000 through 20 fraudulent business registrations for the scheme, which gave diners £10 off meals. HM Revenue and Customs identified and intervened in the attempted fraud before any money was paid out.

Rahman received an eight-year director disqualification alongside his prison sentence. Lilian Greenwood, minister for innovation, fraud and data, said the case was 'a sickening exploitation' and that every pound lost to fraud should support those who genuinely need help.

How it is being reported

• Benefits fraudster delivery driver who swindled £172,000 from taxpayer jailedA takeaway delivery driver who worked in Kent has been imprisoned for 40 months after orchestrating a complex benefits fraud that netted him £172,000 by assuming the identities of 26 friends and family members. Atikur Rahman, 34, was sentenced yesterday at Canterbury Crown Court following a six-year scheme that exploited multiple government support programmes. The fraud involved submitting over 40 bogus claims for benefits including universal credit, child benefit, tax credits and maternity allowance, according to the Department for Work and Pensions. Rahman, whose gambling addiction…GB News · 31 Oct, 14:36
• Delivery driver impersonated friends and family to steal more than £172K in benefit paymentsAtikur Rahman used 26 identities to make more than 40 claims for benefits including maternity allowance, universal credit, tax credits and child benefitThe Independent · 30 Oct, 21:03
• Benefits fraudster who stole £172,000 of taxpayer cash and tried to fleece £62,000 from Rishi Sunak's Covid Eat Out To Help Out scheme is jailed for 40 monthsDelivery driver Atikur Rahman, 34, was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent after pleading guilty to multiple fraud charges over a six-year period.Daily Mail · 30 Oct, 16:25

In this story: Atikur Rahman · Canterbury Crown Court · Department for Work and Pensions · HM Revenue and Customs · Margate · Kent · Rishi Sunak · Lilian Greenwood

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