Richard Moore, 33, pictured, has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting carrying out a benefits scam that would have earned him £413,000 if he hadn't been caught
A hotelier was caught out in a £413,000 benefits scam when he was spotted celebrating winning an award in a local paper.
Richard Moore, 33, who runs the successful Victoria Hotel in Bury, received £34,500 between 2014 and January 2019 after claiming he could not work due to depression and anxiety.
Moore, who suffers from mental health problems, initially made a legitimate claim to insurer Aviva in November 2013 from a policy he set up in 2007 after losing his job days earlier.
A year later he was well enough to get a job managing an Aldi in Bury but continued to tell Aviva he was unfit to work, and even told the firm it was 'getting worse'.
Payments were due to continue until 2050 and if he had not been caught he would have received £413,000.
But Aviva stopped the cash after he was featured in a local paper article in January celebrating after the Victoria, which he took over in 2017 with wife Lisa, won the North West Pub of the Year prize in the inaugural Parliamentary Pub of the Year Awards.
Manchester Crown Court heard he worked a variety of jobs between 2014 and 2019 while illegally claiming the cash.
After seeing him in the paper, Aviva and the police conducted surveillance that caught him working behind the bar and serving food at the hotel, which is rated 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor.
Moore, who has a daughter and stepdaughter, admitted the scam and in mitigation, the court heard he had not used the cash to live a luxury lifestyle, adding he was 'upset and ashamed' at his actions.
He also claimed there was a delay in receiving the cash when he made his legitimate claim and that he didn't tell Aviva about the Aldi job because he 'feared he would not keep it for long'.
Moore, who is also a school trustee and church youth leader, was handed a 14-month suspended sentence, 100 hours of unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation course.
The City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) led on the criminal investigation after being tipped off by his insurers Aviva Insurance.
Moore was caught when investigators saw him receive a Parliamentary Pub of the Year award
