On Friday 2 December at Croydon Crown Court, Lorraine O’Sullivan, from Barfields, was given a six month custodial sentence after pleading guilty to benefit fraud of over £81,000 at an earlier hearing.
In 2002 Mrs O’Sullivan applied for Housing and Council Tax Benefit in her former name of Swain, while living at Whyteleafe on the basis she was a single parent. She also applied for Income Support.
Mrs O’Sullivan failed to notify either the Jobcentre Plus or Tandridge District Council her partner had moved in with her in May 2005. Mrs O’Sullivan was interviewed by Fraud Investigation Officers from the Council and Jobcentre Plus in 2009 and again in 2010. She denied her partner was living with her during both interviews.
As a result of Mrs O’Sullivan’s failure to notify the change in her circumstances to either organisation she received £81,430 in Income Support, Housing and Council Tax Benefit which she was not entitled to. She is currently repaying the debt to Tandridge District Council
After initially pleading not guilty, Mrs O’Sullivan changed her plea to guilty at a hearing on 14 October 2011. The judge gave her credit for her guilty plea and the fact she had spent the money on household expenditure. He was also aware of the impact of taking her away from her children. But he said there were no signs she would have stopped claiming the benefit and the amount of public funds lost was so great it was unrealistic to expect it would be paid back.
Councillor Martin Fisher, Chairman of the Resources Committee, said: “We worked with JobCentre Plus on this investigation and for both agencies prosecution is always a last resort. This was a large amount of money claimed fraudulently and we will continue to seek recovery of the Housing and Council Tax Benefit debt, although it is unlikely the total amount will ever be paid back. “
h/t Dave
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