Mon, 16 Mar 2015Stephen Dering, former chief executive of a recruitment agency for deaf people, appeared in Croydon Crown Court in South-East London yesterday [16 March].

He is accused of conspiring with six others to defraud the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) by making false claims for the use of sign language services.

Dering’s business, Dering Employment Services, was based in Croydon until it went out of business in September 2010.

He faces two counts of conspiracy to defraud by making false claims. The first count allegedly occurred between 1 August 2009 and 31 July 2010. The second allegedly occurred between 1 August 2010 and 30 September 2012.