Widow Pocketed Over £50K In Late Husband's Benefits

A widow stole over £50,000 from Croydon Council by continuing to pocket her husband's benefit payments two years after his death.

Part-time carer Monica Owusu, 50, (pictured) of Oval Road, Croydon received £1895 every month into their joint-account, but did not tell the council her husband had died.

“You withdrew the money and used it for your financial commitments, knowing it did not belong to you and should have been returned to the local authority,” Recorder Ian Bourne QC told her today.

She pleaded guilty to stealing £52,122 from the London Borough of Croydon between September 1, 2007 and May 18, 2010.

The family home, which she inherited from her late husband, will now be sold to repay the debt.

Owusu's husband received the benefit for home care from September, 2004, but passed away three years later.

“He had required full-time care and was paralysed,” prosecutor Francesca Levett told Croydon Crown Court. “Monica Owusu was in charge of his finances.

“She informed their occupational therapist when her husband died, but this information did not reach the relevant department and direct payments continued to be made.

“The account continued receiving the payments for months, but it was not until August Mrs Owusu accessed the account and saw the large sum of over twenty thousand pounds.

“That's when, the prosecution say, she became dishonest and withdrew large sums without notifying the local authority.”

Eventually Croydon council stopped the payments and interviewed the defendant.

“She said she used it to pay bills and her mortgage and said she did not know why she did not tell theb local authority.

“All the money was withdrawn. Nothing was left in the bank acount.”

Owusu agreed to repay the council at the rate of £150 per month, but stopped after nine payments.

Owusu's lawyer Mr. Kwame Inyund said: “To her eternal regret she took advantage of the situation with the money she was not expecting.

“There is no evidence of a lavish lifestyle or money taken out of pure greed.

“It is her intention to make good what is owed to the local authority out of the sale of the property.”

Recorder Bourne told the first-time offender: “It is obvious to everyone that you did not set out to steal such a large amount of money from the local authority.

“It was inevitable that you would have been caught one day.”

Owusu was sentenced to thirty weeks imprisonment, suspended for twelve months, and ordered to complete 80 hours community service.