7:10am Monday 30th March 2009
Four fraudsters tracked down and taken to court by Lambeth Council have all been found guilty and sentenced.
Two - a freelance journalist who claimed £29,782, and a Southwark Council employee who wrongly claimed £8,458 - were handed suspended prison sentences.
Journalist Lynne Constable, who misled the council about her earnings for four-and-a-half years, only avoided directly being sent to jail because she promised to pay back the money.
Southwark employee Ben Sidibe, who failed to advise Lambeth of his wife’s earnings and also of the fact that he held a second job, was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
Gwendolin Spencer, of Upper Tulse Hill, who pleaded guilty at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court on March 17 to housing and council tax benefit fraud totalling £15,775.88, was ordered to do 140 hours of community work and pay court costs of £150.
She failed to advise Lambeth that her husband, a company director, was living with her.
Jim Dickson, cabinet member for finance, said: “People think fraud is a victimless crime, but it takes money away from spending on vital services for the benefit of the entire community. "We have a duty to safeguard the public purse.”
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