Married couple illegally claimed £1million in benefits and bought 5 properties

15 March 2023 , 21:59

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Scammers Emmanuel Bay, 68, and Nancy Bay, 67, are due to be sentenced later this month (Image: PA)

An elderly couple bought FIVE properties while fraudulently claiming £1 million in disability payments for nearly 20 years.

Scammers Emmanuel Bay, 68, and Nancy Bay, 67, from Brixton, south London, received the cash between 1999 and 2018.

They claimed the money under Mr Bay’s name, even though he had recovered from a previous illness and was no longer entitled to support.

The pair's crimes came to light after Lambeth Council staff became suspicious during a review of Mr Bay's claim.

The case was then passed to the council's counter fraud team, reports MyLondon.

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The couple defrauded Lambeth City Council for nearly 20 years (PA)

The claimant was found to have wrongly received numerous disability support payments from the local authority in the form of Direct Payments, which allow people with disabilities or ill health to sort out their own care.

He also illegally claimed for Independent Living Fund payments from the council and received money fraudulently from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Mr and Mrs Bay were found guilty of 21 offences under the Theft Act, Fraud Act and Forgery and Counterfeiting Act at Inner London Crown Court on March 6, following a four-week trial.

A third defendant, Bruno Matudi, 68, of Plaistow, east London, was convicted of two offences under the Fraud Act.

They will be sentenced later this month.

Lambeth Council investigators will now begin to recover the stolen money from the couple.

Robert Firth