BBC Rogue Traders' Dan Penteado admits benefit fraud

A presenter on the BBC consumer affairs programme Rogue Traders has admitted illegally claiming housing and council tax benefits totalling £24,000.

Dan Penteado, 40, from Westbourne, Bournemouth, admitted eight offences of dishonestly or knowingly claiming housing and council tax benefits.

Bournemouth Magistrates' Court heard he failed to declare his BBC earnings.

Penteado has been the motorbike-riding on-screen sidekick of Rogue Traders star Matt Allwright since 2001.

He was warned he could face jail and was granted bail while a pre-sentence report is prepared. The case was adjourned until 17 July.

The prosecution said the offences went back to 2007 when Penteado filled out his first claim form and failed to declare he had another bank account.

The court heard he repeated the fraud in subsequent years up to 2011.

In that time Penteado failed to tell Bournemouth Borough Council he had been paid more than £56,000 for his work on Rogue Traders from 2008 to 2011.

Kerry O'Neill, prosecuting, said: "He received £24,077.60 in housing and council tax benefit he was not entitled to.

"He failed to notify the borough council of the money coming in."

The court heard the council, which brought the prosecution, would be seeking to recover all the cash and Penteado had already paid back £210.

No mitigation was put forward by Penteado at the hearing.

The Portuguese-born presenter left court without comment.