Mother of six manages to make nine successful fraudulent tax claims

A mother of six has been jailed for claiming tax credits for non-existent children.

In addition to genuine claims for her real children, Kerry Melia from Tipton in the West Midlands, amazingly managed to get through to speak to people on the tax credit helpline to claim for nine non-existent children.

The total amount she swindled from the fraudulent claims came to £62,243.

David Gauke, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said: “The Government will not tolerate dishonest people stealing public money which pays for vital services. This sentence shows that those who think they can cheat the benefits system should think again. The extra £900m we have invested in HMRC will allow them to carry on the fight against benefit cheats and tax fraudsters.”

At Wolverhampton Crown Court, she was sentenced to 8 months in prison.