Two £40,000 benefit fraudsters have been given suspended sentences and 150 hours' unpaid work. Both had claimed they were single parents but were living with their partner.
A 38 year old woman has been ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work for defrauding Bromley Council out of more than £40,000 in benefits over 10 years.
Aber Kibwota, from Penge, pleaded guilty to fraud after illegally claiming council tax and housing benefits between June 1999 and November last year.
An investigation showed she had failed to inform the council her partner had been living with her and she had been in employment.
Kibwota was also given a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months at Croydon Crown Court.
Separately, a mother of two who repeatedly lied to the Department for Work and Pensions has been spared jail for a £40,000 benefits scam.
Burnley Crown Court heard how Catherine Knowles claimed she did not have a partner, but they were living together and officials spotted him leaving her house and being picked up in his works van. The couple had applied for a £4,000 car loan together saying they were married and his wages were paid into a bank account in Knowles's name.
The defendant was quizzed twice by the department about the three-and-a-half year fraud and at first said she didn't really think she had done anything wrong.
Knowles, from Barnoldswick, admitted three counts of failing to notify a change in circumstances and two of making false representations. Judge Andrew Woolman said it would be "cruel" to send her to prison as it would leave her family in even worse difficulties than they were before. She was given eight months in custody, suspended for two years, with 150 hours unpaid work. The defendant had no previous convictions.
The court was told in May, 2002, Knowles started to receive income support as a single parent. The claim was legitimate and she also got housing and council tax benefits.
In 2003, she reported to the department the birth of her second son and in March, 2005 claimed she had no contact with her ex-partner who, she said, was violent and abusive. In early 2006, she told Pendle Council Paul Knowles did not live with her, was not her partner and there were no earnings coming into the household.
Mr Knowles had started work as a ceiling fixer in November, 2005, his employers had the defendant's address as his home and observations by the DWP found him being collected by his works van in the mornings.
The hearing was told Knowles was interviewed last April and claimed she did not really think she had done anything wrong. She claimed he had only gone with her for the loan as she could not get credit on her own.
Questioned again later, she admitted she and Mr Knowles were back together and she had been dishonest.
The defendant was overpaid £40,882 in income support, council and housing tax benefits between November, 2005 and April last year. She would have been entitled to child tax credits of about £10,000 over the period if she had been truthful. Knowles wanted to pay the money back and had repaid £120.
Mr John Woodward, for Knowles, said she had suffered anxiety, depression and relationship problems.
Mr Knowles had been living with her for a large part of the time, but did leave on occasions and wasn't really contributing that much to the family home. The barrister said: "He simply was not pulling his weight."
Mr Knowles had apologised and said he felt as responsible as the defendant. Mr Woodward continued: "She was in financial difficulties. There is no suggestion she was living a champagne lifestyle. It was simply to meet everyday bills. She is completely chastened, very sorry and ashamed."
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