A £32,000 benefits fraudster was caught after posting online her other half was “the bestest husband” while she was claiming to be a single mum.
Elizabeth Hughes told the Department for Work and Pensions she had broken up with husband Arthur in January 2010.
She kept up her lie until 2013 when she told them they had reconciled.
But investigators discovered they had been living as husband and wife under the same roof the entire time, with Hughes raking in tens of thousands of pounds in taxpayers’ cash over the three-year period.
Hughes, a childminder, claimed she had been struggling with financial issues throughout and had been using the money to cover debts.
However, investigators found debits from her bank accounts to travel firms and Facebook images of her, her husband and her children on foreign holidays.
She faces a potential prison term when she returns to court for sentence next month.
Depute fiscal Vicki Bell told Dundee Sheriff Court: “She claimed tax credits in 2009 and then in August of that year informed DWP she and her husband had separated.
“She confirmed that position over the next three years before declaring they had reconciled in 2013.
“An investigation revealed there had never been a separation.
“Joint bank accounts operated with his salary being paid in and joint expenses going out.
“Holiday payments, TV licence and other household expenses were paid jointly.
“There was also a post on Facebook saying he was ‘the bestest husband’ posted during the period of the claim that she was single.
“Her husband was interviewed and initially said they had been separated in 2009 but only reconciled late in 2012.
“But at the end of the interview he said they had only been separated for three or four months in 2009.
“He admitted he knew the accused had made a single person’s tax credit claims and that it was used to alleviate debts. A total of £32,000 was overpaid and no money has been repaid.”
Hughes, 36, of Fintry Crescent, Dundee, pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge under the Tax Credits Act.
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael deferred sentence until next month for social work background reports and released Hughes on bail meantime.
