A man who pretended to be a student to avoid paying council tax has been given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to repay more than a decade of unpaid tax.
Vishal Kumar Gandhi, a 40-year-old man from Hayes, falsified documents that claimed he and the other people living in his house were full-time students from 2013 to 2025. However, Gandhi officially completed his education at the London School of Business and Finance in 2013.
Fraudulent certificates led to 12 years of unpaid tax
The counterfeit student certificates allowed him to avoid paying council tax to Hillingdon Council for 12 years. The total value of the discounts amounted to £14,500, which he is now being forced to pay back to the council after he was caught.
Cifas, a fraud detection organisation, estimated a few years ago that one in six people in London know someone making false discount claims on their council tax. The figure for the rest of the UK is one in 10 people.
Court sentencing and repayment
During an interview under caution in May last year, Gandhi admitted to the crime. He had already started repaying the sum before his court appearance and the court heard he was remorseful about his wrongdoing.
On October 27, Gandhi pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court. He received a 12-month suspended prison sentence, ordered to complete 140 hours of unpaid work and is repaying the full amount of council tax, as well as paying the council's £8,970.52 prosecution costs.
Cllr Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council's Cabinet Member for Finance, said: "This was a concerted and sustained fraud spanning several years and I'm delighted that this offender has been brought to justice.
"Council tax exemptions exist to provide valuable protection and the necessary additional support for those who need it the most. Cynically abusing the system by deception damages the public purse and wastes valuable time that could have been spent processing legitimate claims.
"The council will continue to take the toughest action the law allows against those who abuse the system and seek to gain an advantage by fraud, and where possible, recover the costs."
