A PROVISIONAL date has been set for the trial of a recruitment agency boss accused of claiming more than £200,000 in bogus expenses for sign language services.
Stephen Dering, 37, is alleged to have conspired with six other people to defraud the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) while working for Dering Employment Services.
He and his colleagues are 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. The prosecution claims in excess of £200,000 worth of these claims were fraudulent.
Dering, of Croydon Road, Beckenham, 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, were due to appear at Croydon Crown Court for a case management hearing on Monday (February 2).
The hearing has been moved to March 16 ahead of a trial, provisionally set for May 5.
