A BENEFITS fraudster cheated Croydon Council by saying she was out of work - when she actually had a job in the authority's own customer services department.
Rochelle Bowen, a mother from Thornton Heath who is three months pregnant, did not appear at Croydon Magistrates' Court court for her trial on Tuesday, telling her lawyer she was at the doctors and was not in a "fit mental state" to be taking part.
The prosecution, led by Jennifer Newcomb, told the court it was the eighth time Bowen, of Sandfield Road, had failed to turn up.
In her absence, the defence withdrew its case and the prosecution outlined how Bowen cheated Croydon Council out of £669.98 in housing benefit and council tax benefit – which she qualified for because she claimed to be jobless.
However, at the time, Bowen was earning up to £260 a month from Croydon Council itself – a temporary job she secured through a recruitment agency.
"It's actually very simple," Ms Newcomb told the court.
"Bowen was claiming benefits by saying she was not working and that her only income was those benefits. But in September 2011, she was earning up to £260 a month at Croydon Council and she failed to tell the benefits assessor officer about the changes.
"She made a phone call to the benefits assessor and told her she was still relying on benefits."
Ms Newcomb then read out a witness statement by council fraud investigator Josephine Wright, which outlined how Bowen received £100 a week in housing benefit and £18.61 in council tax benefit.
When Ms Wright was alerted that Bowen had been working for Croydon Council, she was asked several times to come to the authority's offices and explain her situation.
However, she did not turn up and was charged with defrauding the council of the benefit payments.
Ms Newcomb also read the benefits assessor, Susan Burrows', witness statement, which said: "Bowen made a benefits claim online. I called her and asked her questions, including whether she was working.
"She said she had worked four days in August but was living off child tax credits and child benefit.
"Had she told me about her job with Croydon Council, she would not have received those payments."
The court heard Bowen had been convicted of benefit fraud before, in February 2012, arguing she had the "propensity" to commit the crime.
Although the defence, Charles Elton, withdrew his case, he told the court that Bowen was in a considerable state of "distress" and had suffered post-natal depression.
Bowen was found guilty and a warrant was issued to bring her to court for her sentencing.
