An Upper Norwood resident has been prosecuted for fraudulently claiming more than £5,000 in benefits after illegally subletting her council house.
When interviewed by the council’s investigators Diana Onwuabusim, 41, denied the allegations.
She said the occupants were carpet fitters who had taken over the property after she employed them, and changed the locks while she was out.
The former council tenant pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining housing and council tax benefit and was sentenced at Croydon Magistrates' Court on Monday, November 23.
In a case brought by Croydon Council’s corporate anti-fraud team, the court heard how Miss Onwuabusim illegally sublet the council property in Tylecroft Road, Norbury, between 2006 and 2007.
The court heard over a period of nearly 12 months she let out her home for £600 a month, telling her tenants she owned the property.
The fraud was exposed when the tenants approached the council after being tipped off that the property belonged to the local authority. Miss Onwuabusim was later evicted.
The exposed fraud resulted in a total overpayment of benefits of £5,647.36 for the period October 2006 to September 2007.
Miss Onwuabusim was given a six-week custodial sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £400 in costs.
She was also ordered to pay back the money.
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