A WEALTHY fraudster from Gourock who swindled more than £20,000 out of the benefits system has made a last-ditch bid to avoid prison – by offering to repay the stolen cash in full.
Pensioner George MacDonald – whom a court heard has accumulated ‘considerable funds’ through family bereavements – even turned up at a social security office with his chequebook prior to a sentencing hearing.
The 65-year-old illegally claimed employment and support allowance totalling £20,860.79 in a sustained scam which lasted nearly three years – putting him firmly within High Court disposal guidelines for custody.
But his lawyer, David Tod, has won MacDonald a partial reprieve by having the matter deferred until next month to allow him time to make formal contact with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in order for the money to be paid back.
However, MacDonald – who was originally charged with scamming a further amount of nearly £5,000 – has been warned that repayment may not spare him from being locked up.
Solicitor Mr Tod told Greenock Sheriff Court: “Mr MacDonald is a man, due to a number of bereavements, who has considerable funds and his position has always been that he’d pay the money back.”
But Sheriff Iain Fleming replied: “In the more immediate sense, it is more than £20,000, and there are sentencing guidelines from the High Court.”
Mr Tod replied: “He has been going in to the DWP with a chequebook, trying to repay the money himself.
“He strikes me as quite an eccentric individual.”
Mr Tod noted that the Crown intends to pursue a confiscation order against MacDonald over the stolen money, but he argued: “I don’t think that there is any need for that. The proposed confiscation order tallies directly with the amount in the charge.
“There is no allegation that this man has been involved in any other criminality.”
However, prosecutor Lindy Scaife said: “My instructions are to make a motion for confiscation in this matter.”
Sheriff Fleming asked: “If the money is repaid, is there a possibility that would resolve the matter?”
Fiscal depute Ms Scaife replied: “It is a possibility. I would put it no higher than that.”
MacDonald fraudulently claimed the £20,000-plus between November 2011 and August 2014.
His not guilty plea to obtaining £4,889.76 in income support between November 1 2007 and November 5 2011 was accepted by the Crown. Sheriff Fleming set a confiscation hearing for December 7 and deferred sentence on MacDonald, of Shore Street in Gourock, until October 5.
The sheriff told him: “This was a sustained fraud over a lengthy period of time and involving a significant amount of money.
“There are sentencing guidelines for cases such as this.
“Repayment may help you to avoid custody but nothing is ruled in and nothing is ruled out at this stage.”