Leeds Fraud Duo Back On Benefits

Two brothers who pocketed £225,000 in the biggest benefit fraud case of its kind in Leeds are back on state handouts after being released from jail. Javeid Akhtar, 36, and Banaras Ali, 32, wove a 10-year web of deceit to claim the sum from Leeds City Council and the Department of Work and Pensions.

Since their release, the pair have already cost the taxpayer at least another £12,000.

The brothers were jailed in March 2008 after admitting conspiracy to commit fraud between 1996 and 2006. Both were sentenced to four-and-a-half years – reduced to three on appeal – and ordered to pay back almost £265,000 in compensation and court costs.

The money has yet to be paid – though one of them owns a six-bedroom detached home, valued at £650,000, in a Leeds suburb.

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