A benefits fraudster from High Wycombe has been slapped with a curfew after claiming a £4,000 reduction in council tax that he was not entitled to.

Saqib Karim, 40, of Healey Avenue, failed to tell Wycombe District Council that he was the joint owner of a property when he applied for a council tax reduction.

By failing to tell the council, he received £4,133.02 of council tax reduction over a period of nearly four years.

He was given a curfew between 8pm and 8am for ten weeks and will be monitored by electronic tags after pleading guilty to a charge of knowingly making a false statement to secure a council tax reduction on a benefit claim form at Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on May 23.

Mr Karim has also been ordered to repay the cash he fraudulently saved in full, as well as prosecution costs of £2,494 and a victim surcharge of £95.

In his defence Mr Karim said he was holding the property, which was registered in the joint names of himself and his father and was subject to a joint mortgage, in trust for his father, and he had not appreciated that he needed to declare this fact on the benefit form.

Cllr David Watson, finance and resources chief at the district council, said: “We want to reassure our residents that we take benefit fraud seriously and won’t hesitate to prosecute the dishonest few who choose to abuse the system.”

Residents who are aware of any suspected fraud - not just benefit fraud - can contact the corporate investigations team anonymously at fraud.investigations@wycombe.gcsx.gov.uk.