Hillingdon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Amira Issa has been sentenced after Hillingdon Council found she filed a fraudulent housing application while living permanently outside the borough.
At the Ealing Magistrates’ Court on Friday, August 1, 41-year-old Amira Issa of Tustin Estate, Southwark, was given a six-month jail sentence with a 12-month suspension. On Friday, June 6, the same court convicted her guilty of two counts under the Fraud Act 2006.
In addition, she was mandated to attend 20 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, pay £6,167 to the council, and pay a victim surcharge of £154.
In February 2021, Issa filed for housing, claiming that she had been living at a house on Wraysbury Drive in Yiewsley since 2009, but that it was now too crowded and that she wished to apply for a council home.
Upon reviewing the application, the fraud team at the Hillingdon Council discovered that she had connections to a Southwark address. According to the court, she lived away from the Hayes property for a considerable amount of time without informing the council.
Her defence contended that she had been trying to assist an ex-partner in obtaining a tenancy after he failed the initial checks and that the conduct was not driven by personal gain. However, considering the cost to taxpayers and the ongoing dishonesty, magistrates decided that she had purposefully misled the council.
Cllr Martin Goddard, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation, said:
“We’re determined to ensure our residents live in safe, good quality homes and are protected from the risk of homelessness.
With council homes in short supply and high demand, housing fraud limits the availability of properties for those in genuine need and puts additional strain on public resources due to the cost of providing temporary accommodation.
Our counter fraud and legal teams work hard to thoroughly investigate all applications, and we won’t hesitate to pursue legal action against anyone who seeks to take advantage of services and swindle the public purse.”
How did the council fraud team verify that Issa had lived away from the Hayes property?
The fraud squad at Hillingdon Council confirmed through several checks as part of their investigation that Amira Issa was not residing at the Hayes property. They cross-checked on her application details with other addresses associated with her, becoming aware of links to an address in Southwark.
They carried out checks into residency and found that Issa had not informed the council that she had stopped living at the Hayes property for an extended period of time. They utilized data matching and intelligence from multiple council departments and public records which confirmed her true arrangements for residential purposes.
The investigation uncovered a pattern of sustained dishonesty as she went to considerable lengths to mislead the council by omitting her permanent address, which was located outside of the borough.