A BENEFIT cheat from Rainham who owned a speedboat and dubbed himself "well dodgy" has been ordered to pay nearly £70,000 – or face jail.
Dave Richards, 54, of Abberton Walk, claimed both housing and council tax benefit despite running a business and having substantial assets.
Richards, who emblazoned his caravan and speedboat with the slogan "well dodgy" must now pay Havering Council back the benefits he defrauded, plus court costs.
At the end of a five-day Proceeds of Crime hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court last Thursday, Richards was ordered to pay back the council the £33,757.87 he fraudulently claimed in benefits.
He was also told to pay £7,792.92 back to the Department for Work and Pensions plus the council's costs of £27,614.99.
Richards enjoyed a lavish lifestyle with a caravan, worth more than £28,000 and a speedboat, as well as a number of vehicles.
He was also a driver for the Formula 1 British water-skiing organisation yet he claimed he could not afford to pay costs.
Recorder Rex Bryan said: "There's a large slab of money somewhere that supports all these sporting activities.
"You are in regular employment earning about £10-an-hour but that may not be the whole story.
"I struggle to see why council taxpayers in Havering should pay when it's you who has incurred these costs."
Richards now has six months to repay the amount he defrauded or he will face a prison sentence of 15 months.
He has 18 months to pay the costs.
The court heard how he had attempted to hide his assets from the authorities to prevent any public money being taken back.
After a secret unit he was renting was discovered with a number of expensive items inside he claimed these items had been sold to family and friends.
Recorder Bryan said: "When he realised he might have to pay compensation, he entered into various sham transactions to dispose of assets that belonged to him.
"He attempted to conceal what he owned from the authorities so that this application would effectively fail."
He was convicted of two counts of failing to tell the authorities of a change in his circumstances in January 2012 at Basildon Crown Court and sentenced to an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, 200 hours community service and a three-month curfew of 9pm until 6am.
Havering Council's deputy leader Steven Kelly said: "It is almost unbelievable that, after ripping off the public purse, this defendant then tried to hide his assets when it came to facing up to his crime and paying back his debt.
"This hearing showed how he lied and lied again and I hope this spreads a strong message that if you try to defraud us, not only will we find and prosecute you, we will come after you for every penny which you were not entitled to."
