A Dundee benefits scammer who hid her partner’s £53,000 a year salary from welfare bosses so she could scam £27,000 in handouts and use the cash to shop online and play the lottery, has been sent to jail.
Anita Brown will serve a year in prison after her four-and-a-half year fraud was exposed.
Brown claimed she was living alone with her adult son when in reality offshore worker Ian Baillie was living with her.
His oil industry wage, paid into their joint bank account, funded their household expenses in the city’s Britannia Drive.
Meanwhile, Brown maintained her own separate bank account where she had employment support allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit paid in.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told that later analysis found that the fraudulent cash had been used to fund online shopping, tickets for the postcode lottery and a hotel trip.
Brown later told investigators that Mr Baillie was only a “very good friend”, but he claimed he “hoped to marry her one day”.
Depute fiscal Eilidh Robertson told the court: “When she made the claim she said she was divorced, had no savings and was living only with her non dependent adult son.
“She was told of her duty to advise of any change of circumstances and indeed did when her son started a college course.
“Intelligence was received and an inquiry commenced into her links with Ian Baillie.
“They established they had a joint account where his £53,000 salary was paid in.
“She had an account in her own name where her benefits were paid that was used to pay some household bills as well as to regularly purchase clothes online, to fund the accused entering the postcode lottery and on one occasion a hotel trip.
“It would appear the joint account, funded solely by Mr Baillie, was used for the remainder of the household expenses.
“Mr Baillie listed the accused as his partner, emergency contact and next of kin with his work.
“He stated in credit card applications that he was the owner of the property and had lived there for 19 years.
“He was interviewed and admitted paying household bills and buying food for her.
“He claimed he hoped to marry the accused in the future.”
The court was told Brown scammed a total of £15,000 in housing and council tax benefit and £12,000 in ESA.
Brown, 56, pleaded guilty on indictment to two offences under the Social Security Administration Act.
Sentencing Brown, Sheriff Elizabeth Munro said: “I can’t imagine how she could possibly have thought she didn’t have to declare this.
“It was quite a deliberate, successful, attempt to obtain money which rightfully belongs to the taxpayer.
“The public would be rightfully indignant of her pretending not to get any income from Mr Baillie.”