An HMRC worker scammed her own bosses out of £65,000 after lying to them about her marriage.
Nicola Farningham, 39, of Balerno Street in Dundee, committed the offence right under the noses of benefit bosses at HMRC’s call centre.
She was employed as a tax credit advisor, giving the public advice about their eligibility to Working and Child Tax Credits.
She used this knowledge to create her own fraudulent scheme, which she conducted for nine years, claiming thousands in tax credits.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told the sheriff court: “The accused declared she was single in 2005 and in all reviews she claimed there was no change in her circumstances.
“She declared her annual household income was between £7,253 and £15,111, which was her income from HMRC.
“An investigation revealed she had married Paul Farningham in September 2007 and they had four children together.”
The couple had opened a joint bank account in 2004 and had a joint mortgage for a home they bought together in 2005.
The fiscal continued: “Surveillance was carried out on her property and Mr Farningham was seen coming and going and using a key.
“Investigators searched her home in 2014 and found correspondence for Mr Farningham, including wage slips and Valentine’s Day cards from the accused.”
Her mobile phone was seized and texts revealed a romantic relationship between the two.
Farningham was interviewed and said that although she and her husband were in a relationship, they had never been co-habiting, despite buying property together and having four children.
Her colleagues were also spoken to as part of the investigation and a number of them said she spoke of being married, and had said her husband lived in Aberdeen during the week for work but lived with her at the weekends.
The court heard that none of the sum Farningham claimed from HMRC had been paid back.
Farningham — who tried to keep her story out of the paper, despite conceding she deserved what she got for committing the fraud — admitted the offence in court today.
Defence solicitor Kevin Hampton said: “The court will clearly require background reports.
“I’d ask she be allowed to remain on bail meantime.”
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence until next month for social work background reports and released Farningham on bail in the meantime.
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