11:26am Wednesday 26th October 2011
By David Hardiman
A COUNCIL care manager who, with her husband, conned £150,000 in benefits out of her employer has been jailed.
Lindy Sumner, 41, and husband Maurice, 55, told Enfield Council they were homeless and claimed council tax and housing benefits for the property they were given in Lindal Crescent.
But Mrs Sumner was actually working full-time at a housing association in Willesden, as well as holding down a part-time job at the council as an out-of-hours care manager.
After council officers alerted the Metropolitan Police's Fraud Squad to the discrepancies in 2009, police found the Sumners were also sub-letting a house provided to them by Haringey Council, and had claimed the same benefits there.
After finding that Lindy had also defrauded HM Revenue and Customs by receiving £32,000 in tax credits, officers arrested the couple in May.
Detective Inspector Tim Dowdeswell, of the Met’s Fraud Squad, said: “This investigation highlights the effectiveness of partnership working in cases of this nature.
“Lindy and Maurice Sumner abused the benefits system to the tune of £150,000 and believed they had got away with their deception.
“The commitment and determination shown by both the Enfield investigation team and the fraud squad should send out a clear message to benefit cheats who engage in criminality that they will be caught.”
At Wood Green Crown Court yesterday, Lindy Sumner was jailed for two-and-a-half years, after pleading guilty to three fraud charges and one of dishonest representation.
Her husband Maurice was given a six-month prison sentence for conspiracy to defraud Enfield Council.
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