The difference between the two cases has raised eyebrows and the DWP has faced accusations of focusing on pursuing the wrong people.
The Department of Work and Pensions has threatened tens of thousands of unpaid carers with prosecution over minor breaches of benefits rules.
Another shocking case of an unpaid carer being pursued by the DWP is Vivienne Groom who was taken to court by the department to seize £16,000 worth of inheritance from her. Groom had been awarded the state handout in 2014 to help her care for widowed great grandmother Maud, who needed a wheelchair Eventually she was able to return to work but she did not tell the DWP about her modest increase in earnings because her universal credit had been reduced automatically.
A judge told Groom last year he 'understood' she had found the benefit system 'difficult to understand' She said she had tried to save the government money by looking after her partner herself, but said the experience with the DWP means next time one of her family is ill she will let them pay for a carer.
A 2019 inquiry into overpayments of carer's allowance by MPs concluded that the vast majority of earnings-related issues were down to 'honest mistakes' by carers. One of the hubs was behind a functioning corner shop selling groceries. The group appeared to be hiding in plain sight - posting photos on social media smiling and posing behind the counter of Antonia's Foods supermarket in Wood Green.
Prosecutors said the gang used the benefits system 'like a cash machine'. Pictured: Huge stacks of cash found during the investigation A spokesperson for the department told the Guardian: 'We carefully balance our duty to the taxpayer to recover overpayments, and safeguards are in place to manage repayments fairly.
The roll call of Britain's benefit's cheats: Benefit fraud in Britain peaked at £8.6billion between 2021 and 2022, almost double what the levels they were at before the pandemic. At Liverpool Crown Court, McGill admitted hiding her late father Robert Dennison's death for 12 years so she could claim his war pension and benefits.
He was jailed in 2022 for masterminding a decade-long scam to cheat taxpayers out of at least £1.7million. Neil Filer pocketed nearly £30,000 of taxpayers' money after falsely claiming he had an array of serious medical conditions
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