Benefit fraudster gran who stole £1m in elaborate scam dies – with UK taxpayers now forced to foot the bill
A benefit fraudster gran who stole £1million in an elaborate scam has died, leaving the British taxpayers to foot the bill.
Halton Council will be forced to write off more than £240,000 in debt owed by Christina Pomfrey, who was imprisoned in 2020, and left no estate from which the council could recover the funds.
The ruling executive board will be informed that the money, which was fraudulently obtained over a 15-year period, had been spent on holidays and day-to-day living expenses.
At the height of her fraudulent scheme, Pomfrey was claiming £13,000 per month from various authorities, including Halton and Oldham councils and the Department for Work and Pensions.
The grandmother used multiple false identities and fabricated disabilities to perpetrate the fraud.
She claimed to be blind and wheelchair-bound, but surveillance by investigators caught her driving and reading a newspaper whilst walking.
The scam was described as one of the biggest social security frauds ever prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service.
In 2020, Pomfrey admitted to 34 charges, including fraud, false accounting and making or supplying articles for use in frauds.
She was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison at the age of 65.
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Following her conviction, Halton Council issued debt invoices in an attempt to recover the stolen funds.
The council was recently informed of Pomfrey’s death, making recovery of the debt impossible.
The total debt owed to Halton Council amounted to £240,095, comprising several elements.
The largest portion consisted of £188,825 in ineligible direct payments.
Housing benefit overpayments accounted for £50,375 of the total sum.
The remaining £895 was attributed to council tax arrears.
A report to Halton’s executive board explained that attempts to recover the debt from Pomfrey’s estate proved futile.
“The fraudulently obtained monies had been used to fund day to day living expenses, holidays etc. over many years,” the report stated.
Both Oldham Council and the Department for Work and Pensions face similar circumstances, with no assets remaining to claim against.
The write-off will be funded through the council’s bad debt provision, a designated fund for unrecoverable debts.