A woman has been jailed for committing the largest fraud ever prosecuted by Merton Council.

Samina Ahmed, 53, was sentenced to eight months in prison for falsely claiming £104,000 in housing benefit and council tax benefit over a 14-year period while living at Caithness Road, Mitcham.

Using the false name of Mrs Choudry, Ahmed created counterfeit documents in which she claimed she paid rent to a fictitious private landlord, Kingston Crown Court heard.

Council officers were duped into paying her £160 a week housing benefit from 1997, which continued until last year, during which time she was living at her husband’s house all along.

Her husband, Nazir Ahmed, was cleared of fraud charges after a trial at the same court earlier this year.

Councillor Mark Allison, Merton Council cabinet member for finance said: "This is an extraordinary case and good news that we have been able to bring this person to justice.

“Merton’s benefits system is in place to assist people in the borough who genuinely need help and it is criminals like this who set out to fraudulently claim money they are not entitled to that make it more difficult for honest people to get the help they need."

Merton Council, which described this case as “the largest fraud” it has ever uncovered, is now looking to recover the money through the Ahmed family property.

Last year, the Wimbledon Guardian revealed how a similar amount of money was falsely claimed from Merton Council to pay a builder working at Stanford Primary School in Norbury.

Despite a police fraud investigation and an internal council investigation, no one has ever been charged or disciplined, despite £93,000 worth of false payments being discovered in 2009.

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