Leicester benefits claimant failed to declare £44,000 in bank

A benefits cheat failed to declare she had £44,000 in the bank.

Inderjit Kaur pleaded guilty to dishonestly claiming housing and council tax benefits.

She pocketed £17,908 to which she was not entitled between 2007 and June last year.

Kaur (45) lived in Fieldhouse Road, Belgrave, when she defrauded the city council.

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At Leicester Crown Court yesterday, she was given a 12-month community order with supervision and a requirement to attend a probation service-run course to address her offending. She was also ordered to pay £1,200 costs.

Elizabeth Power, prosecuting, said: "When she began claiming she stated she lived alone and her only income was jobseekers' allowance.

"She stated she had £278 in an Alliance and Leicester account and just under £1,000 in a Nationwide account. She failed to declare a sum of £44,000."

Kaur has since repaid all the money and now lives in Seven Star Road, Solihull, Birmingham.

Judge Michael Pert QC said: "I don't accept your excuse for not notifying the authorities.

"It was straightforward dishonesty from the start.

"Benefit fraud is you stealing from the rest of us, and stealing from the people who are actually deserving of it."

Sukhdev Garcha, mitigating, said: "She is of previous good character. She fully accepts her actions and shows regret and remorse and doesn't try to diminish culpability.

"She had just come out of a difficult marriage. She used the capital for the benefit of her children.

"The benefit money was repaid by her second husband's business.

"She is an intelligent woman and has worked within the mental health sector, although not currently because she is suffering from depression."