Lottery winner ordered to pay back £26k to council over benefit claims

A lottery winner who fraudulently claimed housing benefit has been ordered to pay back more than £26,000 to a council.

Thomas Sissala had been claiming £144 a week from Westminster City Council for a three-bedroom property. However, he had a part-time job and had won £48,000 on the Irish lottery.

When the local authority investigated, it found that Sissala had fraudulently claimed more than £52,000 in housing benefit since 2008.

In June the defendant pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to six counts of dishonestly making a false statement to obtain benefits, contrary to section to 111A(1)(a) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 (as amended), and one count of dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstance.

He was sentenced to 27 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and 100 hours’ community service.

Sissala was also ordered to pay back £26,695 to Westminster.

Cllr Lindsey Hall, Westminster Council’s Fraud Tsar said: “This case is outrageous – for someone to continue to claim more than £50,000 of public money after winning the lottery just beggars belief. 

“In a time when resources are scarce, we need to make sure that those who genuinely need it are receiving help and clamp down on those who flagrantly play the system.”

Cllr Hall added: “As this case shows, we will unhesitatingly take court action to put a stop to people cheating the system and defrauding the public purse.”