£80,000 benefit swindler jailed for 18 months

A woman has been jailed for 18 months for falsely claiming nearly £80,000 in housing and council tax benefits.

Shahla Massoud-Far, 52, from New Malden, used her maiden name of Ardakani and her first married name of Zafar to claim £43,635 in benefits from Kingston council between 1994 and 2001.

She then moved and went on to claim £34,269 from Kensington and Chelsea between 2001 and 2003.

Massoud-Far was convicted of five counts of dishonestly making false statements to claim benefit and one count of dishonestly failing to declare a change in circumstances.

The judge at Kingston crown court said the fraud justified 30 months in jail but this was reduced as she had repaid or arranged to repay most of the money.

Thomas Fairhead, of Kensington and Chelsea council, said: "This sentence sends out a message to anyone thinking of falsely claiming benefits that we will not let them get away with it."