A married couple swindled £630,000 by claiming benefits and dodging tax while building up a 'Monopoly-style' property empire, a court has heard.

Steve and Kim Benstock from Essex made fake claims to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) but failed to declare their significant earnings to HMRC.

They used the ill-gotten cash to live a 'somewhat lavish lifestyle', taking trips to Thailand and the Caribbean and buying a holiday home in Fuerteventura.  

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard the grandparents committed benefit fraud by claiming means-tested benefits they were not entitled to from July 2002 to July 2019.

It was said Steve Benstock, 62, lived a 'double life', using false names to hide his wealth and create sham tenancy agreements.

He went by 'Steve Twinley' to open bank accounts and even obtain a driving licence, while he told the DWP that a 'Steve Cash' was living at and paying the mortgage at one of his homes.

Steve Benstock had also failed to pay income tax and national insurance contributions, defrauding HMRC between May 2004 and January 2020 when he worked as a bar manager.

And in October 2008, Steve told housing officers at Newham Council they had 'no money in any bank accounts' in order to claim housing benefit and that he paid £1,000 a month to his landlord - despite having over £32,000 in a joint account and holding assets worth more than £400,000.

They similarly defrauded Epping Forest District Council in July 2012, also claiming housing benefit and council tax support despite having an interest in three properties.

Prosecutor Alex Davidson told the court the couple also 'built up an impressive collection of properties, reminiscent of the boardgame Monopoly', which they collected rental income from.

And the couple were said to have up to half a million pounds worth of assets but committed tax fraud by failing to give notice of the sale of three homes in east London and Romford.

The court heard that Steve Benstock committed a total of £253,713 in benefits fraud, for a total of £539,691 in gains when added to the tax fraud. 

Meanwhile, Kim Benstock committed £61,933 of benefit fraud, for a total of £88,340 in gain when added to the tax offences.

However, the 69-year-old, who lives with rheumatoid arthritis and is in receipt of round-the-clock care from her husband, was lawfully in receipt of disability living allowance, the court heard.

The couple were rumbled following a probe by the DWP and HMRC, and were sentenced on Tuesday afternoon. 

Steve Benstock was jailed for five years after previously being found guilty of 12 charges. 

This included obtaining a money transfer by deception, fraud offences, dishonestly failing to notify a change in circumstances, and cheating the public revenue.

Kim Benstock was handed a nine-month sentence, suspended for a year, after being found guilty of six counts relating to housing benefit, council tax benefit and capital gains tax evasion across two properties.

Mitigating for Steve Benstock, defence barrister Stephen Cooke admitted that he was 'not a man of good character', with three non-violent convictions from the 1980s and 1990s.

The court heard that he was convicted of attempted theft in 1982 and of attempting to obtain property by deception in 1991.

However, Mr Cooke argued that he should avoid immediate custody as he fulfils a 'daily, almost 24-hour a day caring role' for his wife.

Mr Cooke said Steve Benstock had 'extremely belatedly' begun to show 'some acceptance and expression of remorse' for his actions, including breaking down into tears over the effect of the proceedings on his wife.

Mitigating for Kim Benstock, defence barrister Katherine Lloyd said her role was 'limited' to signing two forms to claim housing benefits and that the entire court process had been a 'sobering experience' which had left her 'deeply mortified'.

The court heard she had received a police caution in 2015 for two offences of theft from a shop on the same day.

Sentencing the couple, Judge Franklin said none of the money from the offences had ever been recovered.

He said: 'From July 2002 to July 2019, you both received state benefits after obtaining them dishonestly.

'This money was set aside to help the most vulnerable in society, and it was greed on both your parts that led you to divert these funds.'

The judge said he accepted that the 'inevitable custodial sentence' would leave Steve Benstock concerned about the welfare of his wife.

Andrew Western, Work and Pensions Minister for Transformation, said after the sentencing: 'This is a stark example of the kind of brazen fraud that this Government is determined to root out.

'While the Benstocks were acting like Monopoly tycoons - collecting rental income from the comfort of lavish properties with outdoor pools - they were helping themselves to benefits they had absolutely no right to.

'The game is now up and this case should be a warning to others that the DWP is ramping up its efforts, working closely with partner agencies like HMRC, to identify and prosecute fraudsters.'