Gareth Munday and Jennie Oborne secure convictions in million pound fraud

After a 61 day trial, Gareth Munday and Jennie Oborne secured the convictions of all 9 defendants in one of the longest-running cases ever prosecuted by the DWP.

Housing Benefits Assessors who worked for 3 different London Local Authorities processed false claims for benefits worth £1,025,912.

The assessors worked in the local authorities of Lambeth, Kingston and Barking and Dagenham creating false housing benefit claims and sending the funds to accounts they or their friends controlled.

The Defendants and one man still at large identified appropriate properties within their area and took advantage of their positions of trust within the local authority to process claims for Housing Benefits that they knew were fraudulent, paying monies into accounts controlled by 2 of their co-defendants.

The Defendants who were relied upon by others within the Local Authorities for their expertise used their knowledge not only to find suitable properties and process claims but also subvert the processes in place to prevent fraudulent claims.

One defendant alone processed claims amounting to over £240,000.

The defendants all denied fraud but were convicted by a jury after a three month trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Gareth and Jennie were instructed by the CPS - Specialist Fraud Division Leeds.

Please see the press coverage here.