Tenancy Fraud Conviction
On Wednesday 18 December 2024 Clair GABBITAS (Aged 51) of New Cut, Thorney, Peterborough entered guilty plea to two charges under sections 1 and 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 at St Albans Magistrates Court.
The court heard GABBITAS obtained a tenancy with Stevenage Borough Council at Lonsdale Road Stevenage in 2020 when she completed a mutual exchange from her previous address in Stevenage. However, she had provided false information to the council at that time to obtain the tenancy.
A concern was raised during a data matching exercise in 2022 which indicated GABBITAS had a mortgage during 2020 at that same time that she took up her tenancy with Stevenage Borough Council. She had not declared ownership of a property at the time or that she might be living elsewhere.
An investigation, conducted by the Hertfordshire Shared Anti-Fraud Service (SAFS), revealed that in May 2022, GABBITAS had asked to assign her tenancy to her daughter. Further enquires identified that a series of applications had taken place to ensure the assignment took place, including a mutual exchange. Evidence obtained by the fraud team placed GABBITAS in Peterborough from October 2019, and from November 2020 at New Cut, Thorney, Peterborough, at a property that she owned.
When GABBITAS was interviewed under caution regarding the alleged fraud, she maintained she was using Lonsdale Road, Stevenage as her principal home. She admitted to owning a property with her husband but claimed that she travelled between Stevenage and Peterborough to maintain her employment and son’s school which was also in Peterborough.
Immediately following this interview, GABBITAS terminated her tenancy at Lonsdale Road, Stevenage and returned the keys to the council.
Entering her guilty plea on the 18 December, GABBITAS accepted that she had deceived the council when she applied for a mutual exchange, whilst she lived elsewhere in a home that she owned.
The bench considered GABBITAS’ previous good character and a number of mitigating circumstances, as well as her early guilty pleas. She was ordered to pay £1,000 fine, £100 victim surcharge and £4,000 costs to Stevenage Borough Council.
The Shared Anti-Fraud Service works in partnership with Local Authorities and Registered Social Landlords to investigate and prosecute allegations of fraud against those organisations.
You can report suspected fraud in the strictest confidence. For more information, and to report your concerns, visit the Reportfraud, website or email fraud.team@hertfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 123 4033. For press enquiries contact Corporate Communications on 01438 242 168.