Cheating nan who swindled government out of £13,000 a month has died | United Kingdom | News
A cheater who defrauded the system of more than £1million over a 15-year period has died.
Christina Pomfrey, who was 65 at the time, was jailed in 2020 after scamming Halton and Oldham councils as well as the Department for Work and Pensions. A court heard at the time that at the height of the fraud Pomfrey was claiming £13,000 a month and spending on holidays, clothes and cosmetic treatments.
She claimed she was blind and needed a wheelchair, but was discovered after investigators caught her driving and reading a newspaper. Following what was described as one of the biggest social security frauds prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), she was jailed for three years and eight months after admitting 34 charges, including fraud, false accounting and manufacturing or supplying items for use. in frauds.
The total amount she owed Halton was £240,095, which included ineligible direct payments of £188,825, housing benefit overpayments of £50,375 and council tax arrears of £895 . Following her conviction, the council issued debt bills to claim the money, but authorities were recently informed of Pomfrey’s death, reports Liverpool Echo.
Halton’s ruling executive council will be informed later this week that the debt will have to be forgiven because Pomfrey has no estate to claim the money from. A report to the board states: “After the individual’s death, the board continued to attempt to collect debts from the individual’s estate. However, we were informed that the fraudulently obtained money had been used to finance daily living expenses, vacations, etc. over many years.
“As a result, there are no assets remaining in the individual’s estate from which the council could obtain payment of outstanding debts. The situation is the same for Oldham Council and the DWP.”
The report says that as the debts can no longer be collected, approval is being sought to write off the outstanding debts, which will be funded by the council’s own bad debt provision – a reserve of money it sets aside each year for cover money he might not have. recover from debtors.
