'Self-styled countess' jailed for £200,000 benefit fraud

A self-styled countess was jailed for four and a half years for falsely claiming nearly £200,000 in benefits, a council said today.

Marianne Jonson of Rawlings Crescent, Wembley pretended to be paraplegic to receive payouts and live in social housing which was reserved for disabled people.

Jonson, 49, who used multiple identities including the name Countess Mariaska Romanov, said she had an identical twin sister who could walk.

Brent Council said she was found guilty of 22 counts of benefit fraud at Harrow Crown Court yesterday.

During her trial it emerged that Jonson, who was born a man called Robert Duxbury, presented medical records to the court which she said were from an orthopaedic surgeon.

In fact they had been cobbled together by doing Google searches and the medic was dead.

Simon Lane from Brent Council said: "This sentence sends out a strong message from the court to those who may be considering benefit fraud. Brent Council has carried out one of the most detailed and lengthy investigations in its history in order to bring a prosecution in this case. I am sure that taxpayers will be very satisfied with the outcome.

"This was a complex case, involving many different benefits and lines of inquiry.

"Jonson attempted to frustrate the investigation at every stage with petitions to the council, complaints to MPs and councillors and claims of lost evidence. Particularly distasteful is the £58,000 in direct care payments, which have a direct and real impact on the council's ability to provide care to those in real need."

The fraud dated back to 1996 and over the years she claimed £197,000 in benefits, accommodation and to cover her apparent need for 24-hour care.

But during that time she also ran a cafe in the name of the Countess Romanov and worked as a school governor, and was found by council investigators to enjoy a lifestyle of shopping and foreign holidays.

Mr Lane added: "Throughout the trial Jonson maintained her innocence, claiming that investigators had taken her medical records, proving her innocence, during a police search and these had been lost by the council.

"The records that she did provide to the court, allegedly from an eminent orthopaedic surgeon, were found to have been based on a Google search and written after his death. The sentence imposed clearly reflects the seriousness of these crimes against the public purse."