COUNCIL benefits investigators today issued a stern warning to would-be fraudsters: you will be caught and prosecuted.

Max Thomas, head of audit and fraud investigation for City of York council, spoke out after the successful prosecution of a city benefits cheat, who was convicted of claiming more than £17,000 to which he was not entitled.

Magistrates who heard the case of Martin Graysmark imposed on him a 120-hour community punishment order.

They also ordered him to pay £200 court costs over the case.

Graysmark, of Rockingham Avenue, Tang Hall, York, had pleaded guilty to charges of obtaining by deception more than £15,000 in housing benefit from the council, as well as falsely claiming more than £2,000 in Council Tax Benefit since 1997.

Magistrates had been told that Graysmark falsely informed the council he was living alone in the council home he rented.

He also claimed that his only income was from Job Seekers Allowance. In fact, he shared the house, which would have considerably reduced his benefits.

Speaking after the case, Mr Thomas told the Evening Press: "The council is committed to ensuring that anyone who is entitled to benefits receives their full entitlement and our recent benefit take-up campaign underlines this.

"However, we will not tolerate fraud of the benefit system and the council has an excellent record of bringing those making false claims to justice."

The council crackdown on fraud comes after success for the authority in another financial area: tackling council tax arrears.

The Evening Press revealed earlier this week that almost £2 million had been received in ten days after the authority sent about 12,000 reminder letters to residents who had failed to keep up with their payments over the last 12 months.

Some residents were aggrieved after being sent letters threatening them with court action if they did not pay up within seven days, but the council was delighted by the upsurge in payments. Many people also set up direct debit arrangements, which will help the authority achieve higher levels of collection throughout the year.

Updated: 08:22 Friday, July 30, 2004