Universal credit fraudster wrongly claimed £55,000 of benefits in moment of 'pure greed'
Stephanie Williams failed to declare her assets when she applied for the DWP benefits
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An ex-property mogul fraudulently claimed over £55,000 of Universal Credit, a court has found.
Stephanie Williams, 51, from Rhosmaen in Wales's Carmarthenshire, failed to declare her assets when she applied for the benefits, falsely telling the DWP she maintained no income and held just £1,000 in capital.
Williams claimed the benefit for herself alongside her three dependent children over a two-year period, Swansea Crown Court was told.
As a result of the fraudulent claims, the 51-year-old was paid £55,449.12, Alycia Carpanini said prosecuting.
Stephanie Williams, 51, hails from Rhosmaen
According to the prosecutor, Williams's assets were, in fact, three times more valuable than she had initially claimed - which later rose to almost five times the £1,000 figure she had quoted.
The mother-of-three - a former property firm director - actually had four bank accounts, and had made a number of investments across several properties.
Her defence counsel admitted that her bank records show "significant amounts of money which should have been declared" - but noted how Williams had suffered an "emotional breakdown" after a family tragedy.
The first of the properties the 51-year-old invested in via Teilo Properties Ltd was a home inherited from her late grandmother.
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The 51-year-old mother was handed an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years
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But the court was told how "in Teilo Properties, she took very much a back seat".
Judge Geraint Walters said: "Instinctively, one takes this view: 'How arrogant can somebody be to be milking the state when she is very very flush?' - But it's not as simple as that.
"At the time you first made the representation, your assets and your income was somewhat limited.
"It's the acquiring of properties after that that makes it look pure greed.
She will return to court on December 6
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"At or about the time when this offence arose, you engaged effectively an emotional breakdown... Effectively your world imploded."
The 51-year-old mother was handed an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years, and must complete 25 rehabilitation activity days.
Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings have been launched by the Department for Work and Pensions in an effort to try and recoup the fraudulently-obtained taxpayer cash.
She will return to court on December 6.
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