A council fraud investigator has helped identify dozens of dead people on its housing waiting list and registered for blue badges as they helped save over £1m in the last year. East Lothian Council appointed a permanent fraud officer last year after a temporary post began recouping funds for the local authority working alongside a National Fraud Initiative (NFI). One taxi driver who had been receiving council tax reduction had it removed after failing to declare their income and a council house was recovered after a tenant was found to have bought another property while failing to end the tenancy. A spokesperson said: “Online reporting helps to make highlighting suspected fraud as easy as possible. “Examples include deliberately providing false information when applying for a council house, unlawfully subletting a council property or falsely claiming council tax discount or exemptions.”