A Southend conman who cheated social security of more than £50,000 in benefits has failed in an Appeal Court bid to have his two-year jail term cut.
Alexander Neumann, 60, of Wimborne Road, was jailed at Basildon Crown Court in August after pleading guilty to false accounting.
Lord Justice Auld, sitting with Mr Justice Curtis and Mr Justice Pitchers, refused to cut Neumann's sentence saying it was "in no way manifestly excessive".
Neumann had falsely claimed housing benefit from 1994 to 2002 and had failed to register shares he owned in a care home, fraudulently claiming jobseeker's allowance from 1998 to 2002.
Dismissing arguments that Neumann's sentence was too high in view of his guilty plea, Lord Justice Auld said: "This was a man who wished to raise money fraudulently and saw the benefits system as a way of doing that.
"The plea of guilty was not entered at the earliest opportunity and this appeal is dismissed."
Published Friday January 16, 2004
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