UK Takeaway Driver and Gambling Addict Jailed After Investigators Discovered How He Collected Over £170,000 in Benefits Using a Clever Trick That Went Undetected for Years

A takeaway delivery driver from Margate has been sent to prison after stealing more than £170,000 from taxpayers through fake benefit claims and attempting to get another £62,000 from a government scheme introduced during the Covid pandemic.

Atikur Rahman, 34, carried out the fraud over six years by making false claims for benefits, using other people’s personal details and pretending that some families had children who either did not exist or were living outside the UK.

The court heard that Rahman also used fake employment records, false wage slips and dishonest maternity benefit applications to obtain money he was not entitled to receive.

What made the case particularly serious was that some of the people whose identities he used had originally approached him for help with their benefits. Instead of helping them properly, he used their personal information to make fraudulent claims and arranged for the payments to go into bank accounts he controlled.

Rahman, who worked as a takeaway delivery driver, carried out the fraud between 2015 and 2021. During that time, he used the names of his wife, brother-in-law and other people to submit claims to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Canterbury Crown Court heard that he made false applications for child tax credits by claiming responsibility for children who did not exist or who were not living in Britain.

He also submitted working tax credit claims supported by fake wage slips. These documents suggested that the people named in the applications were working for restaurants and takeaway businesses, even though some of those businesses were not operating.

Prosecutor Andrew Evans explained that Rahman had carefully arranged the false claims to make them appear genuine.

He also used similar methods to claim Universal Credit, providing false employment information and using other people’s identities to receive payments.

His activities did not stop there. Rahman also made dishonest claims for maternity benefits by completing medical forms that should have been filled in by a doctor or midwife.

The court was told that the applications named Limes Medical Centre, but checks showed that the women involved had no recorded pregnancies at the centre.

Although the women were genuine patients, the pregnancy information submitted in the claims was false.

Investigators were unable to establish exactly how Rahman obtained the medical forms.

As well as taking money through the benefits system, Rahman attempted to take advantage of the government’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme during the Covid pandemic.

The scheme was introduced to encourage people to visit restaurants after lockdown restrictions had badly affected businesses. It allowed participating restaurants to offer customers discounted meals and then claim the money back from the government.

However, rather than using the scheme to support a genuine business, Rahman registered companies that were not operating as claimed.

The court heard that he submitted 20 registrations between the middle and end of July 2020.

Some of the companies involved included Tiger UK House Ltd and Gypsy Food Ltd, which were presented as restaurant and takeaway businesses.

Rahman used false addresses, fake email accounts, dishonest company information and personal details belonging to other people to support the applications.

If the claims had been successful, investigators estimated that he could have received another £62,880 from the government.

However, HMRC officers became suspicious and began checking the businesses.

When officers visited the addresses listed in the applications, they discovered that some were private homes or other commercial properties with no connection to the restaurants Rahman had registered.

The suspicious registrations were identified before any money was paid out under the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

Investigators also discovered that Rahman had arranged for money obtained through his benefit fraud to be paid into 18 different bank accounts.

Some accounts were registered in his own name, while others were connected to his wife, relatives and associates.

The arrangement helped him receive and move money obtained through the false claims.

Rahman was eventually arrested in October 2021 after investigators uncovered the benefit fraud.

During his first interview, he denied receiving some of the payments. However, he later admitted knowing about much of the dishonest activity.

He was charged in 2024 with two offences relating to the benefit fraud and his attempt to obtain money through the Covid support scheme.

The court heard that the case had taken time to reach sentencing partly because of delays in the justice system.

Another reason was that Rahman had travelled to Bangladesh when he was expected to attend a hearing at a magistrates’ court.

During the sentencing hearing, his lawyer, Simon Molyneux, explained that Rahman had been struggling with a serious gambling addiction.

The addiction had caused major financial problems and had badly affected his family.

According to his lawyer, Rahman became trapped in debt and eventually sold the family home because of his gambling problems.

His wife and children suffered greatly as a result of his actions.

The court heard that the family became homeless and had to move into temporary accommodation.

His marriage was also badly damaged, with his wife considering divorce because of the problems caused by his behaviour.

Mr Molyneux told the judge that Rahman’s actions had caused enormous pain to his young children.

He explained that one of the children had been so upset by the situation that she had cried herself to sleep.

The lawyer said Rahman would have to live with the knowledge of the suffering he had caused his family.

He also told the court that Rahman had since made significant changes to his life and had not gambled for more than three years.

Rahman was described as remorseful, and the court received a letter from him along with references from people who knew him.

However, Judge Edmund Fowler made it clear that the seriousness of the fraud meant Rahman could not avoid prison.

The judge said the crimes had been carefully planned and carried out over several years.

He explained that this was not simply a case of someone making a mistake on a benefit application or trying to receive a small amount of extra money.

Instead, Rahman had deliberately created false information, used other people’s identities and arranged dishonest claims to obtain public money.

The judge also criticised his attempt to exploit the Eat Out to Help Out scheme at a time when many businesses were struggling to survive because of the pandemic.

While restaurant owners and workers were facing serious financial difficulties, Rahman had seen the government support scheme as another opportunity to obtain money dishonestly.

Judge Fowler described the fraud as carefully organised and said Rahman had manipulated government systems for his own financial benefit.

He also pointed out that Rahman’s actions had destroyed the stability of his family life.

The judge said the harm caused by the fraud, the amount of money involved and the length of time it continued meant that a prison sentence was necessary.

Rahman, of Swinford Gardens in Margate, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

He was also banned from acting as a company director for eight years.

In addition, the Department for Work and Pensions will impose a Loss of Benefit Penalty lasting at least 13 weeks if he remains entitled to receive benefits.

The penalty means that certain benefit payments could be reduced or stopped for a period because of his fraud conviction.

Following the sentencing, government minister Lilian Greenwood, who is responsible for innovation, fraud and data, strongly criticised Rahman’s actions.

She said the case was particularly disturbing because he had taken advantage of people who trusted him to help with their benefit claims.

Instead of providing honest assistance, he used their personal information to obtain money from the government.

The minister also warned that money lost through fraud could otherwise be used to support families who genuinely need financial assistance and to pay for important public services.

She thanked the investigators and HMRC officers whose work helped uncover the complicated fraud.

The government said the case showed why stronger action was needed against people who deliberately abuse the welfare system.

Officials warned that people who make false benefit claims, use stolen identities or provide dishonest information to obtain public money could face criminal investigations and prison sentences.

The case has also raised concerns about the risks faced by people who share their personal information with individuals offering unofficial help with benefit applications.

In Rahman’s case, some people who approached him for assistance later had their identities used as part of his fraudulent activities.

His conviction brings an end to a lengthy investigation into a series of dishonest claims that cost taxpayers more than £170,000.

Although his attempt to obtain another £62,880 through the Eat Out to Help Out scheme was stopped before any money was paid, the court found that the attempted fraud was another serious example of his deliberate wrongdoing.

Rahman will now serve a prison sentence, while his family continues to deal with the consequences of the gambling addiction and criminal behaviour that caused them to lose their home and suffer years of difficulties.