A MUM-of-four has been jailed for a year after being convicted of a �45,000 benefits fraud in London’s East End. Amina Adan was claiming Income Support, Housing and Council Tax benefits on the basis that she was single, but was living with a partner

By Mike Brooke

A MUM-of-four has been jailed for a year after being convicted of a �45,000 benefits fraud in London’s East End.

Amina Adan was claiming Income Support, Housing and Council Tax benefits on the basis that she lived alone with her four children.

But fraud investigators from the Department of Pensions and officials from Tower Hamlets Council kept watch on the 34-year-old’s movements and discovered she was living with a partner.

They took surveillance footage showing her partner leaving their home in the mornings at Wentworth Mews, a quiet cul-de-sac off Eric Street in Mile End.

Documents belonging to him were also found at the house, including passport, driver’s license and even wage slips.

Adan was convicted on Tuesday after a four-day trial at Snaresbrook crown court and sentenced to 12 months.

Judge Khayat told her: “You have shown no remorse for your cheating, lying and thieving behaviour. Your defence was insulting to the jury of court. You are a thoroughly dishonest person.”

Tower Hamlets has been mounting a major clampdown on benefits cheats, which has clawed back over �850,000 over the past year.

Department of Pensions fraud investigator Ann Goslyn said after the hearing: “We have 3,000 investigators and are well experienced in the tricks and tactics people use to swindle the taxpayer.

“Cheats get criminal records and a stigma on them and their family for years. It affects credit rating, job prospects and the way people think about them.”

Agents caught nearly 57,000 cheats last year, when the Fraud Investigation Service obtained recovery orders totalling almost �8m, often on tip-offs, using hi-tech surveillance and sharing data with local authorities.