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Benefits cheat in jail threat
An Armed Forces widow from Chorley has been warned that she could be jailed after wrongly claiming £20,000 in benefits.
Linda Allen, whose husband died in a car accident while serving in the Armed Forces, pleaded guilty at Chorley Magistrates' Court to 13 counts of dishonestly making false statements about her income in order to claim benefits over a 15-year period.
The court heard that the 53-year-old, who lives in Liptrott Road, had received 20,000 in housing and council tax benefits since 1995 on the basis that she was only in receipt of a War Widow's Pension.However, she failed to declare that she was also collecting an Armed Forces occupational pension.
Forbes Solicitors, who represented her, said: "Her husband died tragically in 1989 in a fatal car accident. She was 32 at the time with two children. She accepts what has happened and wants to put it behind her."
Mrs Allen was caughtfollowing a national data matching exercise called the National Fraud Initiative.
It involved information from the council's being matched with data held by the Armed Forces Pension Agency.
Coun Kevin Joyce, who oversees benefits for Chorley Council, said: "Ex-service personnel and their families are more likely to qualify for help with their rent and council tax, the cost of which is borne directly out of council funds. But an Armed Forces occupational pension is just like any other company pension and should be declared."
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Weather for Chorley
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
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