16 February 2005
BENEFIT FRAUD CONVICTIONS
Omagh man, Jon Paul Anthony, was recently convicted in Omagh Court for wrongly claiming benefits from the Social Security Agency.
Mr Anthony (49) of Meelmore Drive in the town did not declare that his partner was earning and that he had dishonestly received nearly £3,500 in Job Seekers Allowance and Housing Benefit.
At the same court hearing, Terence Gerald McGowan (53) of Lismore Lane, Tamlaght Road, Omagh was also sentenced for claiming benefit whilst his partner was working. He had defrauded the Agency of more than £2,000.
In addition to repaying the money they had falsely obtained, Magistrate Meehan sentenced Mr Anthony to a £75 fine on each charge – a total of £450 while Mr McGowan was fined £60 and was ordered to pay court costs of £31.
These are the latest of a series of prosecutions brought by the Agency in its drive to clamp down on benefit fraud.
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