Blatant benefit fraud stole UC even though she inherited £400,000
A SHAMELESS charity cheat stole Universal Credit while scouting a new home with a secret inheritance pot worth £400,000.
Mother-of-three Amber Marshall received the huge sum after the ‘unexpected’ death of her estranged father three years ago.
The 47-year-old was receiving both Universal Credit and housing benefit when she heard about her father in 2021.
But when the sale of her late father’s house went through, she received a £400,000 windfall and decided not to inform Medway Council and the Department of Work and Pensions.
By the time Marshall’s secret came out, she had claimed more than £10,000 in benefits, while spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a new home and spoiling friends and family.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that Gillingham-based Marshall had just £5,000 left of her inheritance in January 2023.
The fraudster pleaded guilty to two offenses for failing to report a change in circumstances between September 2021 and May 2022, reports KentOnline.
Marshall’s lawyer, Amelia Norman, said: “She was entitled to benefits, received the money unexpectedly as part of an inheritance and essentially buried her head in the sand in terms of informing the authorities.”
It was said in court that Marshall still receives benefits of £590 a month, but after paying for basic needs he is left with about £60.
As it stands, she has repaid the amount of Universal Credit she received, but the outstanding housing benefit will be paid as part of a payment plan.
Although she was spared prison, Marshall was given an 18-month community order with 30 rehabilitation activity requirements and 120 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Gareth Branston told Marshall: “I do not underestimate the impact of losing a parent, even if you have been out of touch for years.
‘But it must have been clear that the authorities had to know about the inheritance and you admitted in your pleas that you were dishonest.’
REVEALED: BRITAIN’S BENEFITS FOR FRAUDERS
Benefit fraud is a costly crime that takes valuable money out of the hands of those who really need it, and over the years several criminals doing this have emerged in Britain.
Benefits cheat Ethel McGill has pocketed £750,000. the heartless pensioner claimed her father was still alive so she could steal his war pension after his death in 2004.
Her 20-year plan finally came to an end when investigators caught her trotting around and driving after she claimed she was in a wheelchair.
McGill was jailed for five years and eight months in July 2019 – with a further eight months added the following year for failing to repay her ill-gotten gains.
Elsewhere, Michelle Hanney, 51, was defrauded of more than £33,000 after claiming she could barely walk and had to use a wheelchair to get outside.
But the Rotherham fraudster was discovered after she shared photos on Facebook walking her horse and even getting into the saddle.
She was sentenced to 12 months’ community service after pleading guilty to fraudulent activity between May 2021 and August 2022.
Finally, Claire Finney, 41, falsely claimed she was a single mother so she could claim additional child tax credits, universal credit, housing benefit and income support.
But the mother actually lived with her longtime partner Joseph Perry during her five-year plot to steal money.
She used £97,028.24 of taxpayers’ money to enjoy five-star luxury holidays with her family in Cyprus.
This comes after reports of gangs using Photoshop to defraud the Department for Work and Pensions of £8.5 billion in 2022.
The scammers had edited themselves into screenshots of Google Maps in an attempt to outsmart the anti-fraudsters.
And The Sun revealed that more than 7,000 Brits who don’t qualify for social housing have been caught making their way onto waiting lists.
Since 2020, government scammers have uncovered £26.4 million worth of housing fraud.
The criminal activity, detected by the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative, took place as queues for English social housing topped one million.
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