A council-funded carer, who continued claiming nearly £10,000 for looking after her father when he was visiting his native Somalia, has been jailed for twelve months.
Bromley Magistrates' Court
Suban Hashi, 35, submitted time sheets on six separate occasions while her dad was out of the country during a four-year fraud.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich prosecuted Hashi, of Charles Grinling Walk, Woolwich, who they paid to look after her father after he suffered a stroke.
She is also the £500 per-month paid carer of her sister, who has Down’s syndrome.
“This is public money,” said Bromley magistrate David Stitt. “She knows how to fill a form in to claim for her sister.”
Hashi, who was due to start receiving Universal Credit benefit at the end of the month, was also ordered to pay £5,000 compensation to the council when she is released from prison.
“You have pleaded guilty to seven counts and these offences were committed over several years from 2014 to 2018 while your father was outside the country,” the magistrate told her.
“This has crossed the custody threshold.”
Hashi pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud by false representation, namely providing false information on care time sheets between March 1, 2014 and August 28, 2017.
She also pleaded guilty to one count of dishonestly failing to disclose information between May 15 and August 11, 2018, namely that she had not provided personal care to her father.
Prosecutor Mr Michael Haggar told the court: “The defendant was employed to provide care to her father and payments were made by the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
“She did not provide care when her father was out of the country for periods of time and made false claims on her time sheets that she was looking after her father when she wasn’t.”
The council’s loss was £9,712.
The first-time offender was questioned by the council on February 17, last year. “She believed she did not act dishonestly.
“This is fraudulent activity over a sustained period of time, four years,” added the prosecutor.
Hashi’s lawyer Mr Shupai Malianga said: “There has been a lot of confusion, but she puts her hands up.
“She pleads guilty because she has benefitted from something she should not have benefitted from.
“This is not someone who has calculatingly taken this chance and regarded her father as her employer.”
Magistrate Mr Stitt added: “At the end of the day it is her that’s taken the money and benefitted from it and has to repay the local authority.
“Where is the money? Did she put it in a savings account.”
The court heard the excess payments were spent on day-to-day living expenses and Hashi has no savings to pay compensation.
No comments:
Post a Comment