MORE than £1.8million has been recovered from benefit cheats in the county during the past four years, official figures have revealed.

Between April 2011 and April 2015, Carmarthenshire County Council sanctioned 238 people for fraud offences linked to claims for support in relation to housing and council tax.

The sanctions included 69 court convictions as well as 160 formal cautions and nine financial penalties.

As a result, the council’s fraud team recovered overpayments of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit amounting to more than 2.5 per cent of the county’s total Council Tax bill.

Executive Board Member for Resources Cllr David Jenkins said: “As a council, we are committed to preventing, detecting and investigating fraud.

“This includes council tax reduction, council tax discounts and exemptions, housing tenancy and business rates evasion.

“We will take all appropriate action to investigate fraud perpetrated against the council, including prosecution where necessary and we will pursue recovery of losses and the suitable punishment of those responsible for fraud.

“The £1.8million we expect to recover equates to 2.5 per cent on council tax.”

Cllr Jenkins said that fraud was not a victimless crime, it costed the country billions of pounds and increased the amount of income tax and council tax paid, along with affecting the amount of money available to spend on public services such as education, housing, social care and transport.

Penalties for fraud can range from a warning to suspended sentences, community services, fines or prison sentences.