A BENEFITS cheat who drove around in a new top-of-the-range BMW and sent her children to private school has been jailed.
Angella Brown, of Silverleigh Road, Thornton Heath, was found guilty of nine offences taking place from 1999 to 2009, where she illegally pocketed £43,000 in benefits and income support.
Brown, 45, claimed housing and council tax benefits without declaring that she was married to her landlord and failed to tell the council she owned a property in Thornton Heath.
Jurors at Croydon Crown Court heard she even managed to get council housing, by claiming she was homeless and forced to live in overcrowded conditions with a friend.
Brown was jailed for 12 months having been found guilty of eight charges of dishonestly making a false representation and one of obtaining property by deception at an earlier hearing.
Councillor Simon Hall, cabinet member for finance and treasury, said: "This case shows that eventually, fraudsters will be caught and punished, and made to pay back the benefits they have illegally claimed."
