A PENSIONER who illegally claimed benefits for 10 years while his wife had hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of assets, must pay back more than £73,000.

Seventy-four year-old Chung Fong, of Eveswell Street, Newport, faces three years in jail if he fails to pay back the money within three months.

But at a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, Judge Patrick Curran QC was told by defence counsel Nigel Fryer, that the sum to be paid back had been agreed.

Fong, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two charges of making dishonest representation for obtaining benefits, was sentenced last March by Judge Daniel Williams to 10 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.

Judge Curran was yesterday told that the benefits figure involved was £79,330.54, and the available amount to repay is £73,581.

Mr Fryer told the court that the difference between the two figures arose because Fong had already accounted for some of it, and it had been discovered during the repayment negotiations that he had been entitled to some refunds in relation to pension credit.

Judge Curran ordered that Fong pay back the £73,581 in three months or face three years in prison. He was also ordered to pay £1,150 in prosecution costs.

The sentencing hearing last March had been told that Fong, a Chinese national who has lived in the UK for more than 45 years, illegally claimed benefits between 2004 and 2014, and that during this time his wife had more than £200,000 in assets.

He had filled in forms for himself for pension credit and council tax benefit, declaring savings in building society and ISA savings accounts.

After his arrest in 2014, he claimed in a police interview that he did not know about his wife's financial affairs - but he later admitted he was aware his wife had money but he did not know how much.