Anti-smoking adviser jailed for £90,000 con

A respected community leader who fleeced £90,000 from the NHS by signing up unwitting members of the public to a quit smoking scheme has been jailed.

Qualified tobacco adviser Harry Singer, 54, received £89,505 from the smoking cessation programme, which pays £45 for every enrolled smoker who kicks the habit for four weeks.

But many of the people he claimed to have signed up to the scheme either did not smoke or had no intention of giving up. He had told them he was carrying out a survey about tobacco.

At the time of the con - between March to October 2006 - Singer, of Earl's Court, was running a residents' association and claiming jobseeker's allowance. He received an 18-month sentence at the Old Bailey yesterday.