JAIL FOR MARGATE BENEFIT FRAUDSTER

A Margate woman who fraudulently claimed more than £30,000 in benefits over an eight year period has been jailed for 12 months.

Karen Cook (37) from Friends Avenue was claiming Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Income Support based on being a single person. A joint investigation, undertaken by Thanet District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), discovered that Mrs. Cook had failed to declare her true circumstances and had been living with her husband Andrew Cook since January 2001 at three previous addresses. He was working as a self-employed electrician.

As a result, Mrs. Cook was overpaid Housing Benefit of £25,686.95, Council Tax Benefit of £3,299.19 and Income Support of £4,301.79.

Both were arrested by police and were interviewed by officers from the council and the DWP. Mrs. Cook admitted to living with her husband and failing to declare her true circumstances when claiming the benefits.

In the case at Canterbury Magistrates Court, Mrs. Cook pleaded guilty to a total of 12 charges of dishonestly making a false representation for her claims to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit from January 2001 to July 2009. She also pleaded guilty to one further charge of dishonestly failing to disclose information to the Department for Work and Pensions for her claim to Income Support in November 2008.

Magistrates sentenced her to 12 months in prison.

Cllr. Simon Moores, Cabinet Member for Customer Services and Regulatory Services, said: “This is a case where claims were fraudulently made over many years, costing the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds. This is not a victimless crime. Every single one of us who pays our taxes suffers at the hands of benefits fraudsters. I hope this sends out a strong warning to anyone else tempted to try and cheat the system in a similar way. We will investigate any reports we get of benefit fraud and, if you’re caught, you could face the toughest of penalties and end up in prison, as has happened in this case.”