Horsham benefits cheat Margaret Ayensu must pay back thousands

Margaret Ayensu lied for ten years to falsely claim pension credit and housing benefit from Horsham District Council.

The retired nurse, now aged 74, pretended she was renting her £400,000 home on the outskirts of the well-to-do village of Storrington.

Between 2006 and 2017 she pilfered £67,000.

Ayensu was given a suspended prison sentence for the fraud in October 2017.

This month, she appeared back at Lewes Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.

His Honour Judge Mark Van Der Zwart told Ayensu she would have to pay back thousands within the next three months or face a prison sentence.

Lewes Crown Court.

His Honour Judge Mark Van Der Zwart told Ayensu she would have to pay back thousands within the next three months or face a prison sentence.

The Argus previously revealed how Ayensu created a fraudulent tenancy agreement for her home and then faked multiple letters to support her claims.

She squirrelled away taxpayers’ money while living in a leafy village idyll.

Ayensu was shown leniency because of her age and her many years of public service as a nurse.

Read more on this story: Cheating retired nurse lied to claim £67,000 in benefits

Gareth Burrows, prosecuting in 2017, told Lewes Crown Court: “She claimed she had no income coming in and she was renting her property.

“She provided a rental agreement from a landlord in the name of Margaret McAlpine, but that was a name she had previously used. The property belonged to her.

“She claimed housing benefit from 2005 for the address that was in fact hers.

“She then subsequently provided a letter from a Cecil Grey confirming the rental. Again that letter was false.

“A further letter was provided in 2009 and that letter was on headed paper and again saying there was a rental agreement on that property.

“Again that letter was fraudulent. Whilst her deceit may not have taken considerable effort it was over a long period of time.”

Margaret Ayensu at Lewes Crown Court in 2017

“Again that letter was fraudulent. Whilst her deceit may not have taken considerable effort it was over a long period of time.”

It was revealed Ayensu fell into money worries after her retirement and falling out with her daughter, but did not realise there were benefits available to help her as she struggled with mortgage repayments.

A judge had told her: “If you had gone about this in a legitimate way you could have got some help.”

At a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing, Garry Pons, prosecuting, told the court Ayensu, formerly of Kithurst Lane, Storrington, has already paid back a large amount of the money she fraudulently claimed.

Now Judge Mark Van Der Zwart imposed a confiscation order for the remaining £39,340.

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