A mother of four falsely claimed benefits to buy a second home to get her children into a better school, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
Mother-of-four Rejiya Mukith from Ipswich, obtained a mortgage for the £58,080 property in 2003, yet later used £35,000 in income support she dishonestly obtained by lying about her financial situation to pay for the home.
Mukith went on to rent out the second property, now worth £150,000, for £450 a month but didn’t tell the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) about this when she began claiming income support on 2005.
The court heard that Mukith lied so her children could get into the town’s Northgate High School which is rated Good by Ofsted.
Mukith was subsequently handed a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
Judge Rupert Overbury said, “You committed a fraud on the benefits system over several years netting some £35,000.
“You used the money to purchase a second property in order that your children might receive the best education you thought to be available to them.”
