Granny runs rings around the state

A Manchester grandmother who swindled the taxpayer out of almost £600,000 over 12 years in a benefits scam has been jailed. Enid Bell has been sent to prison for four-and-a-half years. Her daughter was sentenced to two years and three months, after she also pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy at Preston Crown Court. The pair bought eight houses.

She used at least eight identities and different addresses to make bogus benefits claims, but always used properties which she either owned or had control over because they were owned by family members. Separate bank accounts were set up in false names in order to make it difficult for anyone to trace the payments back to her. Each of the identities, which included her maiden and former married names, had a number of benefit claims made against them including income support, Disability Living Allowance, pension credits, housing benefits and council tax benefit. She also duped seven different doctors in order for Disability Living Allowance to be paid.

The Manchester Evening News reports that

Three years ago she appeared before magistrates in Blackpool on deception charges under another name, but the court had been unaware of the extent of her activities, and the case against her was dropped because of her ill health.

Don't they have fingerprinting in Manchester?

It's not as if the authorities shouldn't have been on notice -

The court heard Jamaican-born Bell was jailed for nine months for a benefit fraud in 1995 - and started up her dishonest enterprise again just days after being released.

Among the other family members involved, her son was given a 30-week sentence suspended for two years for falsely claiming Jobseeker's allowance of £8,400 over a period of four years, which seems very lenient.

How could she get away with it for so long? It doesn't seem to have been very difficult. Did no one recognise her? Why do we pay benefits to a convicted benefits fraudster anyway?

And how did it come to light? The Daily Mail tells us that

The web of deceit was only uncovered by fluke when Lorraine Bell went to hospital and social workers became involved with her case.

Otherwise, presumably we'd still be shovelling money out to her and her family.