UKIP's Councillor Peter Lagoda and wife Maria plead guilty to £25k benefit fraud

A UKIP county councillor and his wife have admitted swindling nearly £25,000 through benefit fraud.

Cllr Peter Lagoda, 59, and his wife Maria, also 59, today dramatically changed their plea to guilty at the start of their trial.

The pair had been accused of giving Fenland District Council a false address in a bid to claim extra benefits.

Lagoda had claimed he lived in South Beach, Cambridgeshire, when instead he shared a property in Wisbech with his wife.

It had been alleged the councillor and his wife falsely claimed £11,565 in income support, £2,346 in council tax and £10,949 in housing benefit.

But despite originally pleading not guilty in April last year at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court the pair have now admitted all the charges against them.

Peterborough Crown Court heard how all the dishonesty had stretched for more than two years between June 2008 and November 2010.

Lagoda had been elected to represent Wisbech South on Cambridgeshire County Council in May last year.

But he was suspended from UKIP after being charged by Cambridgeshire Constabulary with the fraud.

The pair will now be sentenced on March 28 at the same court.

A council spokesman said: “Cllr Lagoda’s status as a councillor remains unchanged until the outcome of any sentencing hearing is known.

“As such it would be wrong for the authority to comment any further.”

Cambridge News

http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/ukip/article/3445/ukip039s-councillor-peter-lagoda-and-wife-maria-plead-guilty-to-pound25k-benefit-frau

Tut. Tut.   

Anyone committing benefit fraud should have to pay it back, times 10  

Right so you have just proven that UKIP suspend people charged with criminal offences.

You do understand that a council (or parliament for that matter) cannot fire a councillor (or MP) for such things and that people remain councillors even though removed from the parties.

I would imagine now he has admitted guilt he will be kicked out of the party - something they will not do to someone awaiting trail because of innocent until proven guilty.

feelthelove wrote:Anyone committing benefit fraud should have to pay it back, times 10  

Totally agree.

sphinx wrote:Right so you have just proven that UKIP suspend people  charged with criminal offences.

You do understand that a council (or parliament for that matter) cannot fire a councillor (or MP) for such things and that people remain councillors even though removed from the parties.

I would imagine now he has admitted guilt he will be kicked out of the party - something they will not do to someone awaiting trail because of innocent until proven guilty.

UKIP do seem to attract quite a lot of these characters though!

Catman wrote:

sphinx wrote:Right so you have just proven that UKIP suspend people  charged with criminal offences.

You do understand that a council (or parliament for that matter) cannot fire a councillor (or MP) for such things and that people remain councillors even though removed from the parties.

I would imagine now he has admitted guilt he will be kicked out of the party - something they will not do to someone awaiting trail because of innocent until proven guilty.

UKIP do seem to attract quite a lot of these characters though!

Sweetie are we going to go through the "my party is cleaner than your party" again.

Yes we have characters - yes some of them are undesirable. There is no evidence they are any more common than in other parties - you have certainly not provided any.

We have procedures for dealing with problems - do Labour?

Scum, sub-human scum.

Make them pay double - if they can't - prison for 10 years.

sphinx wrote:

Catman wrote:

UKIP do seem to attract quite a lot of these characters though!

Sweetie are we going to go through the "my party is cleaner than your party" again.

Yes we have characters - yes some of them are undesirable.  There is no evidence they are any more common than in other parties - you have certainly not provided any.

We have procedures for dealing with problems - do Labour?

http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/ukip/article/3443/ukip-housing-spokesman-trousering-a-fortune-renting-to-migrants-on-benefits

Do you think he will be kicked out of the party?