A BENEFITS cheat from Dalton hid his cash in three secret bank accounts in a "disgraceful" move so he could continue to claim income support and council tax benefit.

Michael Lander, 54, told fraud investigators he had been “taken to the cleaners” during a previous divorce and kept his savings secret from his new wife Susan.

But when the Department for Work and Pensions investigators looked into Mrs Lander's claim for income support and council tax benefit they found £42,000 hidden in secret Halifax accounts held in her husband’s name.

During the time she had been claiming, Lander, a former postman, had made payments of £9,000 and several £1,000 payments into the accounts.

Recorder Guy Mathieson, sentencing, said: “This was a disgraceful piece of behaviour, not only on the state but on your wife.”

In July 2011, Mrs Lander, who lives in Dalton, put in a joint claim for Income Support and Council Tax Benefit, to support herself and her husband while they were out of work.

A total of £23,964.72 was paid to the couple.

Preston Crown Court heard Mrs Lander believed her husband had just £2,000 in savings and was entitled to make the claim.

But when the investigators analysed the couple’s bank accounts they discovered Mrs Lander had been conned into making a false claim by her husband.

Lander, of Cleater Street, Dalton, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and appeared at Preston Crown Court to be sentenced.

Recorder Mathieson said: “You have been caught out in a massive lie. A lie not only to the benefits agencies in this country but to your wife, who you led to believe you had only a small amount of savings.

“It is quite obvious from considering your bank accounts that you were wealthier than that.

“Whatever the justification in your mind, when you started this claim you had £43,000 in the bank.

“To lie to your wife in that way and to allow her to make a fraudulent claim from the outset is a disgraceful piece of behaviour.

“There were times when you were able to pay quite large sums into those accounts. It is not as if you forgot about them.

“Your wife was making updates to the authorities, telling them when you got married and so on, but you allowed her to continue in that lie.

“You brought her to the attention of the authorities and put her through the wringer as well.”

Since Lander’s fraud came to light his wife has returned to work as a care assistant.

Recorder Mathieson handed Michael Lander a 12 month community order with 240 hours of unpaid work.

He also set out a timetable for proceeds of crime proceedings, to order Lander to pay back the money he took from the state.

The judge said: “They are going to come after this money, and it will probably come out of your savings.

“The irony is that it will put you back into the position of claiming from the state but at least it will be an honest claim.”