Rochdale woman convicted of benefit fraud

A Rochdale woman has been ordered to undertake 80 hours of unpaid work after claiming more than £6,900 in benefits that she wasn’t entitled to.

Zabina Kousar (31), of Bishop Street, Rochdale dishonestly failed to declare she owned a second a property on three separate occasions dating back to 2006, whilst claiming Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

Kousar attended Rochdale Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to three offences of dishonestly making a false statement in order to obtain benefit. Due to the amount of money she had claimed and the length of time in which the dishonestly had taken place, she was given a 12 month community order to undertake 80 hours of unpaid work. In addition she was ordered to pay £250 in costs and will have to repay the £6968.84 that she fraudulently received.