A woman who hid the fact she had a husband for five years in order to scam £80,000 in benefits by pretending she was a single mother was caught out by posting wedding pictures on social media.
Charlene Brindley, 41, lied that she a lone parent to get benefits including income support and child tax credits from 2014 to 2019.
But a court heard she had lived with her partner for five years – and the pair had married back in 2017.
She was caught after a suspicious government official found wedding pictures of her marriage in 2017 on her Facebook page.
COURT HEARD
A court heard she pocketed income support, employment support allowance, housing benefit and working and child tax credits until she was finally caught.
Department of Work and Pensions investigators estimated her overpayment during the period of her offending amounted to approximately £81,000.
SHE PLEADS GUILTY
Brindley initially denied she had been living with her husband but pleaded guilty to fraud and failing to notify change of circumstance when she appeared in court.
John Wyn Williams, defending, said Brindley had been paying back £70-a-month since 2019 but it would take ‘decades’ to clear her debt.
