Date: 10/11/2009
A Charlesworth woman has been told to pay back more than £5,500 of benefits to which she was not entitled.
Fifty three-year-old Denise Jennings, of Glossop Road, started work in October 2007 but did not tell either High Peak Borough Council or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that she had.
As a result, the DWP overpaid her by £5,175.62 in Income Support while the Council paid her Council Tax Benefit of £570.84 that she should not have received.
Before Chesterfield Magistrates on Friday 30 October, Jennings pleaded guilty to receiving benefits to which she was not entitled.
She was ordered to repay all the benefits she had obtained fraudulently and was given a curfew order to start immediately and run until Tuesday 29 December. She was also told to pay £100 costs.
The prosecution followed an investigation by the Council and DWP.
The conviction was welcomed by Emily Thrane, High Peak's Executive Councillor for Corporate Services.
"We won't tolerate cheats who claim benefits to which they're not entitled and who increase costs for the honest taxpayers of High Peak. If you know anyone who you think may be claiming falsely, please ring our fraud hotline on (01298) 28433. You don't have to leave your name", she stressed.