A Buckinghamshire couple have been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, for claiming £122,000 in financial support from the state while failing to declare they owned a second home worth over £350,000.
The pair also received a four-month curfew from 8pm to 7 am and were ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge each.
Christine, 71, and David Jameson, 62, of High Wycombe, Bucks, sold their second house for £358,000, proving the property was worth well over the £16,000 limit on capital that is in place for anyone receiving the benefits they claimed.
Mr Jameson received a total of £51,888 in Employment Support Allowance and £70,246 in Housing Benefit for himself and his wife between 2013 and 2019 on the grounds that he was not fit for employment and had no other income.
However, the couple owned, rented out and later sold their second home in Uxbridge, in which the three-times-married Mrs Jameson had also lived with her second husband.
The pair failed to inform the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or Wycombe District Council of the value of their property or the money they made from its rental or sale and were today found guilty at Aylesbury Crown Court of fraud. They are now required to pay back their ill-gotten gains in full.
DWP Minister responsible for tackling fraud, Tom Pursglove MP, said: The financial support we provide is meant for people who truly need it.
“This case is yet more proof that our investigators are rooting out fraudsters hellbent on cheating the system and ensuring they face justice.”
The case comes as the latest figures show a 10% drop in the rate of fraud and error over the past year, with plans to drive those numbers down further.
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