Woman's £100,000 benefit fraud 'largest council has ever uncovered'

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

A Merton woman has been sentenced to eight months in prison after being found guilty of fraudulently claiming over £100,000 in benefits.

Mrs Samina Ahmed, 53, was found guilty of 12 counts of housing benefit and council tax fraud amounting to £104,664 for a period of almost 15 years.

Ahmed - of 75 Caithness Road, Mitcham - pleaded guilty to the fraud, which Merton Council said was the "largest it had ever uncovered".

The scam involved a contrived tenancy including the creation of counterfeit documents showing a false landlord, false documents and a false name. This enabled Mrs Ahmed to claim benefits by stating that she had to pay rent to a private landlord.

Using the false name of Mrs Choudry, the fraud came to light when Mrs Ahmed's address was mentioned during another fraud investigation, involving other family members. When the claim under the Choudry name was examined, it revealed inconsistencies that prompted a full investigation.

Merton Council's 18-month investigation found that Mrs Ahmed was in fact living in her husband's house and wasn't eligible for the £160 per week benefits she was fraudulently claiming.

Merton Council says it is looking to recover the money through the Ahmed family property.

Councillor Mark Allison, Merton Council's cabinet member for finance, said:  "This is an extraordinary case and good news that we have been able to bring this person to justice. Merton's benefits system is in place to assist people in the borough who genuinely need help and it is criminals like this who set out to fraudulently claim money they are not entitled to that make it more difficult for honest people to get the help they need."