The Department of Work and Pensions is seeking to recover the full amount fraudulently claimed
A fraudster is behind bars after wrongly claiming more than £26,000 in benefits.
For nearly two years, Debra Ballantine received universal credit and council tax support by failing to declare her true capital.
But when Braintree District Council's fraud team spotted something amiss in the Witham resident's declarations, the authority called in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
A subsequent joint investigation led by DWP found Ballantine had been overpaid £25,324.48 in universal credit and £1,329.56 in council tax support over the period of April 2019 to October 2022.
Ballantine admitted two charges of fraud by failing to disclose information when she appeared at Colchester Magistrates' Court on August 19.
She was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on November 11 to eight months’ imprisonment for universal credit fraud and eight months for council tax support fraud, to be served concurrently. The DWP is planning a further court order to recover the full amount.
A Braintree District Council spokesperson said: "This long-awaited prosecution is the result of diligent and persistent work by our fraud investigation team, working in tandem with the Department of Work and Pensions to ensure this did not go unpunished.
"Universal credits and council tax support are designed to help some of the most financially vulnerable people in our community; we will not hesitate to go after those looking to abuse the system."