|
A Shotley woman who accumulated over £19,000 of Housing and Council Tax Benefits to which she was not entitled over an eight year period yesterday (May 18) received a sentence of 16 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months and a 12 month Supervision Order.
Katherine Miller of Shotley Gate Post Office had already attended Ipswich Crown Court on April 22 when she pleaded guilty to eight charges of making false statements on eight Housing Benefit claim forms. Her overpayment of Housing Benefit was £18,863.60 and her Council Tax Benefit overpayment was £260.45.
All claimants for Housing Benefit are required to declare whether they or their partner are related to their landlord or to the landlord’s agent. Ms Miller had stated on her form that she was not related to her landlord, who it later transpired was indeed her father.
A Babergh Spokesperson said “we are pleased with this outcome – not least because this is the largest Housing Benefit fraud by value that Babergh officers have encountered in the last three years. No matter how hard such fraudsters try and no matter how clever they think they are, we will track them down and we will prosecute”.
|