The recruitment boss is set for a hearing in March over fraudulent claimsA recruitment agency boss who has been accused of claiming more than £200,000 in bogus expenses for sign language services has had a provisional date for trial.
Stephen Dering is alleged to have conspired with six other people to defraud the Department of Work and Pensions while working for Dering Employment Services, with Dering and his colleagues accused of claiming expenses from the DWP when an interpreter was never used or, if they were, they were significantly cheaper than the amount claimed.
Some £1 million of Access to Work grants were paid through Mr Dering’s companies, with the prosecution claiming that in excess of £200,000 worth of these claims were fraudulent.
Dering, of Croydon is charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud by making false claims between August 1, 2009 and September 30, 2010.
He and six co-defendants, who have yet to enter pleas, are due to appear at Croydon Crown Court for a case management hearing on March 16 ahead of a trial, provisionally set for May 5.
