Woman admits to £17k benefit cheat
A six-month suspended prison sentence has been handed down to a benefits cheat after she admitted pocketing nearly £17,000 in false claims.
Josephine Schofield, of Darvel Down, Netherfield, pleaded guilty to claiming income support and housing benefit as a single person, when she had, in fact, been living with her husband since June 2007.
Schofield, 54, also admitted she failed to declare two periods of work and provided a tenancy agreement in support of her application which was not a genuine document.
As well as the suspended sentence, Hastings magistrates ordered Schofield to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and awarded 75 costs.
Schofield is repaying the housing benefit overpayment by instalments.
The case was investigated jointly by the Department for Work and Pensions and Rother District Council.
A Rother spokesman said: "This case demonstrates that benefits cheats will be caught and that severe punishments can be handed out for such actions."
Anyone who suspects that someone they know is cheating the benefit system should call Rother District Council anonymously on 01424 787737 (24hr voicemail) or the national freephone hotline on 0800854440.
Alternatively, Rother's Fraud Investigation Team can be contacted by completing the online Report-a-Fraud form on the council's website at www.rother.gov.uk
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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