A MAN who pretending his was renting his home to get benefits, has been prosecuted by Bexley Council.
Bexley Magistrates' Court heard Ertan Mehmet owned his home in MacArthur Close, Erith, but filled in a benefit claims form claiming he was renting it from a private landlord, and provided a tenancy agreement to back up his claim.
But a check on his details, before any benefit was paid, showed both the landlord and the tenancy agreement were figments of Mehmet's imagination.
He was charged with fraudulently attempting to claim housing benefit and council tax benefit.
After pleading guilty at an earlier hearing, magistrates sentenced him last week to 100 hours' community punishment and ordered him to pay £200 costs.
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