A cheating tenant had been ordered to pay back thousands of pounds of benefits when East Cheshire council discovered that she was enjoying a relationship with her landlord.

The tenant received housing and Council Tax benefits when she claimed that she was taking maternity leave and was surviving on a low income with her children.

The real truth was that she was living with the landlord, who turned out to be the father of her children, throughout the seventeen month period that she received the benefits.

At a recent court hearing she was ordered to repay back in full the benefits that she claimed fraudulently, which came to £3,866. The tenant pleaded guilty to the deception at the proceedings.

Peter Raynes, Cheshire East Cabinet member and finance specialist, said that the council is clamping down heavily on benefits cheats and if found out they will be prosecuted.

 

Raynes said :“This case shows that cheating the system leaves perpetrators much worse off,

“We proactively investigate cases like this to prevent fraudsters taking money away from those really need help.”

Besides receiving the order to pay back the benefits in full, the tenant must serve 240 hours of unpaid community work and also pay a victim surcharge of £60.