Published : 02 Nov 2026, 12:27 AM
Updated : 02 Nov 2026, 12:27 AM
A man has been jailed for stealing the identities of family members and friends to make more than £172,000 in fraudulent benefit claims in the United Kingdom..
Atikur Rahman, 34, used 26 different identities to submit more than 40 false claims to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Birmingham Mail reports.
News outlet Dazzling Dawn, run by Bangladeshi expatriates living in the UK, has identified the man as Bangladeshi.
Atikur used false company and employment details to obtain payments for Universal Credit, Maternity Allowance, tax credits, and Child Benefit.
He also attempted to obtain more than £62,000 through 20 fraudulent registrations under the government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) detected the fraud before any money was paid, reports Birmingham Mail.
It said the fraud came to light in 2018 when one of the people whose identity had been stolen tried to make a genuine benefit claim.
Officials became suspicious and raised concerns with the DWP. Investigators checked financial records and uncovered several claims made using stolen identities.
HMRC arrested Rahman in October 2021. During a later interview, he admitted making the fraudulent registrations.
He pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud committed between July 2015 and May 2021.
Canterbury Crown Court sentenced him to 40 months in prison on Oct 30. He was also disqualified from serving as a company director for eight years.
Margaret Mousley, deputy director of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, told Birmingham Mail: "The Eat Out to Help Out scheme was designed to support businesses during an exceptionally difficult time, but Atikur Rahman tried to exploit it for his own gain.
“Robust anti-fraud checks were built into the scheme and HMRC identified his 20 fraudulent registrations, stopping more than £60,000 of taxpayers’ money from being paid out.
“We remain determined to tackle those who try to defraud the public purse and I’d urge anyone with information to report it to HMRC on GOV.UK.”
Lilian Greenwood, minister for innovation, fraud and data, described the case as an exploitation of people who had trusted Atikur.
