Five men who helped scam Barnsley Council out of £70,000 have been handed community orders.
John Gregory, Dean Kiss, Duncan Stather, Luke Sharkey and Dale Priestley admitted fraud after making false insurance claims between 2007 and 2010.
Katherine Robinson, prosecuting at Sheffield Crown Court, said they were among a group of about 20 men who received cheques for false claims from Brett Sanderson, an employee in the council’s insurance department.
They paid the cheques, which varied in value between £1,200 and £1,600, into their accounts before giving most of it back to Sanderson.
The court heard they kept between £50 and £200, with Sanderson, who was jailed for 15 months last year for his part, taking the rest.
Judge Robert Moore handed each a 12-month community order – Gregory, aged 32, of School Street, Thurnscoe, must do 30 hours’ unpaid work and pay £630 compensation; Kiss, 37, of Oak Road, Mexborough, must do 60 hours and pay £620; Stather, 40, of Cemetery Road, Mexborough, must do 80 hours and pay £1,755; while Sharkey, 26, of Turnesc Grove, Rotherham, and Priestley, 33, of Sankery Square, Goldthorpe, must each do 60 hours and pay £800.