A BENEFIT cheat from West Drayton who told 'barefaced lies' to fraudulently claim £117,000 of benefits has been sent to jail.
Janice Wilson, of Winnock Road, West Drayton, was sentenced at Isleworth Crown Court today (Friday) to eight months imprisonment.
Despite claiming benefits for herself and her four children, she had a full time job at Heathrow Airport as a detainee custody manager.
As well as working 42 hours a week and earning £2,200 every month she was also a Union representative for her colleagues.
Crucially, she failed to disclose this information to Hillingdon Council and the Department of Work and Pensions when making claims for benefits.
The Department for Work and Pensions received a data match stating Ms Wilson was working and Hillingdon Council was approached to conduct a joint investigation.
It was discovered that Ms Wilson completed several benefit application forms and, as part of the council's checks, she was visited on four occasions and had ample opportunity to disclose her work but failed to do so.
Garry Coote, Benefit Fraud Team Manager, Hillingdon Council, said: "Ms Wilson told barefaced lies to fraudulently claim a massive amount of money she was not entitled to and it is absolutely right she has been given a prison sentence.
"We are always pleased when we catch a benefit cheat. After all, it’s your money they’re stealing. I am always surprised, and disappointed, that each and every year we still find people defrauding taxpayers totalling tens of thousands of pounds.
On handing down sentence, Judge Denniss highlighted that making fraudulent claims is not a victimless crime and has an immediate loss to local tax payers.
The total losses through fraudulent claims were:
Housing Benefit £51,783.69
Council Tax Benefit £5,687.89
Income Support £60,183.23
If you have any information about benefit fraud in Hillingdon, please contact the council’s hotline on 0800 389 8313
