A FRAUDSTER has been jailed after claiming she was single to qualify for £32,000 worth of benefits.
However, Margaret Grieve was caught when investigators found her being congratulated on her wedding anniversary on social media.
Grieve fraudulently claimed the money, consisting Working Tax and Child Tax Credits, over three years.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Grieve, who works for NHS Tayside at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital in their sterile services department, had claimed to be a single mother who had separated from husband, Frederick.
In reality, she was still living with him, splitting the cost of shopping and looking after the children.
Department for Work and Pensions investigators looked at Grieve’s Facebook page which had a profile picture of the pair together attending a ball in 2011. That year a friend had wished Grieve a happy anniversary on the page, with Grieve replying to thank them.
Sheriff Tom Hughes said: “Unfortunately for you custody is inevitable.”
Mr Hughes jailed Grieve for nine months.
He said: “The difficulty that you face is that this was not a one-off incident. It was a course of action over a number of years and a considerable amount of money was involved – over £30,000.”
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