A scheming mum is facing jail after she lied to benefits bosses that she had split from her husband to rake in £20,000 in handouts – all the while taking foreign holidays with him with the defrauded cash.
Elizabeth Moir told the Department for Work and Pensions she was a single mum and had split from her husband Ian.
But in reality they were living under the same roof, sharing a bank account and taking holidays together.
A probe was launched after Moir told Dundee City Council her husband, who works full-time for tyre firm Michelin, had not lived with her between 1997 and 2013.
Neighbours told investigators that they had in fact been living together with their children the entire time.
Depute fiscal Trina Sinclair told Dundee Sheriff Court: “In October 2010 she notified the DWP they had separated.
“At annual reviews she declared some changes in her circumstances but maintained she was single. During the period both her and her husband maintained two joint bank accounts.
“Household expenses were paid from there. They were jointly on the accused’s Motability car insurance policy.
“They had also been taking holidays abroad together. The accused’s husband denied any knowledge of a joint tax credit claim.
“He said he had returned to the matrimonial home in 2010 but that they had remained separate until 2012 when they reconciled.
“Neighbours said they had lived together at the property as a family for at least 10 years.”
Moir, 52, of Traquair Gardens, Dundee, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Tax Credits Act committed between October 2010 and August 2013.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond QC deferred sentence until next month for social work background reports.
She said: “You have pled guilty to this offence and because of the serious nature of it I’m calling for a criminal justice social work report before I decide on the sentence.”
