A pensioner who "dishonestly" claimed tens of thousands of pounds after declaring she held less than 10 times as much money in savings as she did in reality has been ordered to pay it back.
Marilyn Stanford, 73, from Desborough in Northamptonshire, had told authorities her savings and investments were worth less than a £16,000 threshold required to claim pension credit and housing benefit in 2016.
But she failed to tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that her assets were actually worth more than £58,000 - which soared to £112,000 in 2021.
Stanford, a court heard, was not even entitled to the benefits she had claimed until 2022 - six years after she began raking in the money.
Stanford was ordered to pay back the money at Northampton Crown Court
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The 73-year-old had declared holding just over £400 in capital, alongside a small amount of premium bonds, when she claimed pension credit over the phone, Northampton Crown Court was told.
It later transpired that she actually had £52,000 in a Nationwide savings account, alongside a Post Office bond which would be worth over £8,000 when it matured.
Harry Dickens, prosecuting, said "she declared that she held no cash at home and her car was a sole asset"; then, just weeks later, Stanford had declared capital worth just over £4,200 on a housing benefit claim form - when, in reality, she held over £57,700.
In January 2021, the 73-year-old had told a compliance officer in an informal interview that her accumulated savings were worth less than £10,000 - but, Dickens said, she had actually held £112,000.
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The 73-year-old had been "dishonest" with authorities in order to claim pension allowances, a court heard
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He continued: "She received multiple notifications that she was required to update any change in circumstances."
The court was told how Stanford had failed to declare:
- Money from a previous house sale.
- Two cashed-in pensions.
- A monetary gift from her father to be spent on caring for her mother - which was placed in a savings account.
- Inheritance from her mother.
The pensioner had believed - in error - that she was not required to declare the money if she was not using it, the court heard, which Bray described as "very much head in sand as opposed to a deliberate and malicious attempt to defraud the public purse".
Dickens said that, when Stanford was interviewed, she said she had been told she was entitled to housing benefit from her council, adding: "She said she felt dreadful and wished the entire thing had not happened."
Stanford was paid a total sum of £26,959.18 in benefits to which she was not entitled; after an entire pension credit overpayment of about £773 was repaid, she has been told to pay compensation to the DWP of £26,185.94.
Bray added: "She is plainly not going to trouble the courts again and is plainly going to return the money."
Stanford was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with 20 days' rehabilitation activities.
