An Elstree man who claimed housing benefit to help pay the £300 weekly rent for his detached house in Park Crescent, faces jail after admitting defrauding Hertsmere Borough Council.

Hamid Vakilzadeh,49, who collected around £144 benefit each week towards the rent of his large house, defrauded the council out of a total £4,626 in housing and council tax benefit, Watford magistrates heard last Thursday.

The council investigated Vakilzadeh after receiving information, in January last year, that a soft-furnishing business was being run from his double garage and that his wife, Sharareh Vakilzadeh, was also living at the house.

On claim forms, in June 1999 and June 2000, Vakilzadeh, a refugee from Iran in the 1970s, had stated that he was not working, had separated from his wife and lived with his two daughters.

But neighbours told the council they believed Mrs Vakilzadeh had lived at the house the whole time her husband had been there, since July 1998, and that there were frequent deliveries of materials to the property, prosecutor Dawn Pearson told the court.

Vakilzadeh, who stopped claiming benefit in February 2001, told the council that he paid the rest of his weekly rent with money from his family in Iran.

Vakilzadeh also said he did not put his wife's name down on the claim forms because, although she stayed at the house, he did not consider her to be living there as his wife, the court heard. He said he had separated from his wife in 1997, but she stayed at the house to look after the children, which had nothing to do with him, and he did not get any financial support from her.

Ms Pearson told the court that Mrs Vakilzadeh lived at the address according to the electoral register.

She added: "In addition to his own room, Mr Vakilzadeh stated that his daughters had separate bedrooms and that his wife occupied a fourth bedroom, and that this was the reason he needed such a large property."

Vakilzadeh pleaded guilty to two charges of defrauding the council on June 21 1999 and June 6 2000.

Magistrates adjourned the case for sentencing at Hemel Hempstead Magistrates Court on March 5, and warned Vakilzadeh, who was given conditional bail, the offence was so serious he could be sent to prison.