Cleaner prosecuted for
benefit fraud
A cleaner from Manor Park was
sentenced to 200 hours' community punishment order plus £100 costs
for claiming £8,945.53 housing and Council Tax benefit plus
£6,857.35 in Jobseeker's Allowance.
Mambueni Mamengi, 56, pleaded guilty to six charges
under the 1992 Social Security Administration Act when he appeared
at Snaresbrook Crown Court on April 4.
The prosecution follows a joint investigation by Newham Council
and the Department for Work and Pensions after a tip-off that
Mamengi of Whitta Road was claiming benefit between March 2002 and
December 2004 while working for a cleaning firm.
Investigators discovered he had made false statements on his
benefit claim forms and had failed to tell the council when he got
a job.
In his defence, Mamengi said he needed the money to send to his
family in Kinshasa in the Congo.
Marianne Wood, chief internal auditor, said: "Benefits are meant
for people who genuinely need them. Claiming benefits fraudulently
amounts to stealing taxpayers' money.
"We will not hesitate to prosecute anyone if there is sufficient
evidence to prove they have committed benefit fraud."