A Harrogate woman has received a suspended jail sentence for a two-year benefit fraud in which she failed to declare the proceeds from a property sale.
Vanessa Boyd, 49, acted out of “sheer greed” by failing to disclose to the Department for Work and Pensions that she had received £126,518 from the sale of a property, York Crown Court heard.
That resulted in benefit overpayments of just over £13,881 over a period of more than two years from September 2020, said prosecutor Brooke Morrison.
She said that Boyd started receiving Universal Credit payments in September 2020 due to being out of work and having very meagre savings.
Ms Morrison added:
“However, she informed the Jobcentre Plus that she would have an amount of money coming from solicitors as a result of the sale of a property, but (that there was) some delay in receiving those funds.”
Boyd, of Tewit Well Road, received just over £126,518 in November 2021 from the proceeds of the sale which would have affected her benefit entitlement, but she failed to declare it to the authorities.
Ms Morrison said:
“She had been informed of her need to do so before receiving the funds.”
Boyd made “multiple declarations” about her savings which didn’t include the proceeds from the property sale.
When questioned about these omissions by fraud investigators, she claimed she didn’t think she had to declare the proceeds of the sale because “the money was going to be used to purchase another property”.
Boyd admitted fraud by making the false declarations and appeared for sentence today.
Her barrister Benjamin Bell said she had since been making repayments to the DWP at a rate of £55 per month and had never been in trouble before.
Judge Simon Hickey said that Boyd had acted out of “sheer greed” and fraudulently claimed a “substantial amount of money over a substantial period”.
He said the offence was so serious that it had to be met with a jail sentence, but that it could be suspended because Boyd had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had child-caring responsibilities.
The six-month jail sentence was suspended for 18 months. As part of that sentence, Boyd was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and complete 20 rehabilitation-activity days.
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