Benefits cheats who defrauded taxpayers out of £39,000 have been sentenced at Harrow Crown Court.
Vipul Patel and Udita Patel, of Bowen Road, Harrow, amassed a property empire in West Harrow by defrauding taxpayers.
Over a four year period the couple claimed £15,936 in housing and council tax benefits.
Vipul Patel also claimed £23,068 in Income Support which he was not entitled to.
The fraud was detected after it was discovered the pair failed to notify the council that Udita Patel had purchased 83 Vaughan Road in October 2004 for £190,000, 42a Vaughan Road in February 2005 for £178,000 and 133a Vaughan Road for £185,000 in August 2006 with deposits totaling £83,000.
Further enquiries by Harrow Council showed that all three of these properties had been rented to tenants whilst Vipul and Udita Patel claimed Housing Benefit to help pay their own rent.
The couple pleaded guilty to four counts of dishonestly failing to notify a change in circumstances on September 20, at Harrow Crown Court.
At the same court on November 1 Vipul Patel was sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for two years.
He was ordered to observe a curfew between the hours of 9pm to 6am for two months.
Udita Patel was handed six weeks imprisonment, suspended sentence for 12 months, and she was ordered to observe a curfew for two weeks.
Confiscation proceedings are also underway to recover the money overpaid through assets including the three flats owned by Udita Patel.
The hearing is due to take place at Harrow Crown Court in April.
Cllr Graham Henson, portfolio holder for performance, customer services and corporate services at Harrow Council, said: “We work hard to make sure that taxpayers’ money only goes to people in real need.
“Our officers have a number of tools in their armory to spot fraudsters and I hope this case sends a clear warning that we will catch up with you.
“At a time when councils are facing huge cuts in their budgets and pulling out all the stops to protect services, we will not tolerate people taking public money they are not entitled to.”
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