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Jail sentence for former social housing officer who committed £66,000 fraud (21 August 2015)
Date: 21/08/2015
A former social housing employee has been given a two-and-a-half year prison sentence, after being convicted of housing fraud in July at Kingston Crown Court.
Online publisher 24Dash.com reports that 38-year-old Bolarinwa Odulate from Southwark, southeast London had failed to advise Richmond Council that she owned a property in Southwark when she applied for a council property in Richmond.
Odulate was renting out the Southwark property when she applied for a council house.
After a tip-off from a housing association, an investigation into Odulate was carried out by Richmond and Kingston Councils’ shared internal audit and investigation team.
The investigators found that Odulate bought a social housing flat under the Right to Buy scheme in Southwark in 2004. She then rented it out and applied for a social housing property in Richmond.
Odulate failed to declare ownership – or the additional rental income from her flat in Southwark – when she was awarded the flat in Southcott Road, Teddington in 2009.
She also falsely claimed benefits she was not entitled to.
The court heard that she had used her knowledge as a former social housing officer to carry out the fraud.
In July, she pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail by Kingston Crown Court.
Richmond Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member, Councillor Geoffrey Samuel, said:
“It sends a clear message that there’s every chance anyone who dares commit fraud in Richmond may very well end up behind bars.
“Odulate abused her position of trust and took advantage of her level of expertise to take money from the very people she should have been protecting.
“Any potential fraudster beware – this could be you.”
Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors
Duncan Lewis housing solicitors are one of the UK’s leading providers of Legal Aid housing advice and can advise social housing tenants on a wide range of housing matters, including:
• Disrepair of rented property
• Anti-social behaviour problems
• Housing Benefit
• Housing fraud
• Local Authority housing
• Local council’s obligation to rehouse (Section 193)
• Nuisance neighbours
• Right to Buy (including conveyancing)
• Tenancy agreements
• Unlawful eviction.
For expert legal advice on housing law, call Duncan Lewis housing solicitors on 020 7923 4020.