Pictured : Benefits cheat who defrauded 19 councils of £244,000 for luxury holidays jailed

A benefits cheat who funded a “lavish” lifestyle of holidays and designer handbags with a £244,000 fraud on 19 councils has been jailed for four years. 

Tania Amisi, 27, spun a web of lies for six years to dupe local authorities into paying her housing and council benefits for homes she did not live in.

The single mother of three was exposed in BBC programme Britain On The Fiddle in March, which looked at her luxury lifestyle and revealed she had £25,000 of designer handbags at two homes in Chelsea Harbour.

She admitted three charges of fraud in January 2015 but fled and was convicted in her absence of 17 further offences. Southwark crown court heard that Amisi was arrested in Paris in July and sent back to the UK.

Jailing her yesterday, Judge Michael Grieve QC said: “This was not a case of a person in dire financial straits submitting to temptation and making fraudulent claims to get by.

"You committed these offences to fund your very affluent lifestyle on holidays, restaurants and designer handbags… there’s very little evidence you have shown any remorse before you went to ground in Paris.”

The court heard Amisi had used the scam to receive £244,000 between 2008 and 2014, but a further £65,000 in benefits claims were rejected.

Amisi admitted three counts of fraud by false representation and an offence of skipping bail. She was also found guilty of a further 17 charges of fraud. - Evening Standard