London woman who claimed £250k is jailed for four years

Tania Amisi has been jailed for four years 

A benefits cheat who fiddled 22 councils out of more than £244,000 in bogus housing benefit claims has been jailed for four years.

Mother-of-three Tania Amisi, who lived in Chelsea Harbour in London, used fake names and different passports to trick local authorities between 2008 and 2014 into paying housing and council benefits.

She also put in applications for a further £65,000 that was not paid to her, and claimed benefits on properties which already had tenants as well on her own property.

Amisi was featured in the BBC documentary Britain on the Fiddle in March, which revealed her lavish lifestyle and exposed other wealthy benefit claimants.

The 27-year-old made thousands every month from each council, submitting 37 claims against 22 councils – 21 of which were in London.

In January 2015, she pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at Westminster Magistrates Court and was released on bail with a curfew.

But she cut off her electronic tag and went on the run in Europe sometime between February and May 2015. 

Amisi featured in a BBC documentary Britain on the Fiddle this March which showed her lavish lifestyle

Amisi featured in a BBC documentary Britain on the Fiddle this March which showed her lavish lifestyle

Viewers were left furious by the BBC show which revealed Amisi's haul of designer goods worth tens of thousands of pounds 

Viewers were left furious by the BBC show which revealed Amisi’s haul of designer goods worth tens of thousands of pounds 

Bank statements showed when she was due for her trial at Southwark Crown Court in 2015, she had bought Eurostar tickets and booked herself into a hotel in Paris.

Two days later she went to the Sheraton hotel in Brussels, which costs over £100 a night.  

FRAUDSTER SCAMMED 22 COUNCILS 

Amisi tricked local authorities for six years using fake names into paying her housing and council benefits for properties she did not live at.

She made thousands every month from each council, submitting 37 claims against 22 councils – 21 of which were in London.

Some 15 of the councils she scammed include: London Borough of Barnet, Westminster, Tower Hamlets, Merton, Hammersmith and Fulham, Southwark, Hounslow, Greenwich, Sutton, Croydon, Lewisham, Wandsworth, Newham, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Hertsmere Borough Council in Hertfordshire.

Amisi was pregnant with her fourth child when she was finally arrested in Paris in July 2017 after a European Arrest Warrant was issued. She was extradited back to Britain in September this year.

Today she was jailed for four years for a total of 21 offences – and will give birth in prison.

Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) agents carried out surveillance on Amisi after she tried to cash fake cheques and discovered thousands of pounds being paid into her account by councils across London.  

Amisi blew some of the cash on her £25,000 handbag collection and luxury holidays to the Congo, Ivory Coast, America, Egypt, Morocco, and Turkey.

She also posed on Facebook bragging about her travels to the Congo and Istanbul. 

On one trip she spent 2,600 Euros in a Prada outlet and had Chanel Louis Vuitton, Hermes, YSL, Givenchy and Dolce and Gabbana bags thrown at the bottom of a wardrobe.

Amisi also set up a false fashion company called Le Chateau Dior and used the fake name Tania Westwood to claim against Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

She was also known as Tania Abidi, Becca Amisi and Tania Alicia with seven different credit cards linked to these four aliases, plus two Congolese passports.

When the DWP raided her Chelsea Harbour home they found pictures of her in designer dresses on the wall and her posing for photo shoots posted on Instagram. 

The fraudster claimed she earned the money to pay for her lifestyle by working in a minimum wage job at a local betting shop. 

Givenchy, Hermes, YSL, Givenchy and Dolce and Gabbana bags were thrown at the bottom of her wardrobe

Givenchy, Hermes, YSL, Givenchy and Dolce and Gabbana bags were thrown at the bottom of her wardrobe

Amisi also set up a false fashion company called Le Chateau Dior and used the fake name Tania Westwood to claim against Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Pictured, one of her Vivienne Westwood bags 

Amisi also set up a false fashion company called Le Chateau Dior and used the fake name Tania Westwood to claim against Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Pictured, one of her Vivienne Westwood bags 

Southwark Crown Court heard the frauds were ‘an addiction’ and she spent some of the money on a Cartier watch and Christian Dior clothes.

Amisi was jailed for four years for 21 offences

Amisi was jailed for four years for 21 offences

Amisi came to the UK from the Congo as an asylum seeker aged around 12 after her father was assassinated, the court heard. 

Prosecutor Amit Karia said: ‘She was arrested in France and taken to the airport before extradition to Britain.

‘She has been in custody since July 25.

‘The two addresses in Chelsea Harbour were raided and £25,000 worth of designer handbags were found at the properties.

‘From this large sum of money stolen from this benefit fraud, she did live a lavish lifestyle and squandered that large quantity of money.’

Judge Michael Grieve QC jailed her for a total of four years for all 21 offences.

He said: ‘After entering those three guilty pleas, you fled to the continent of Europe between February and May 2015 until you were arrested in Paris in July 2017. 

‘The methods used to commit these frauds involved careful planning and an even increasing degree of complexity, involving false names and forged bank documents. 

DwP investigators found full length pictures of her in designer dresses on the wall and her huge fashion collection

DwP investigators found full length pictures of her in designer dresses on the wall and her huge fashion collection

Amisi sparked fury among viewers when she was featured in the BBC documentary

Amisi sparked fury among viewers when she was featured in the BBC documentary

DWP raided her Chelsea Harbour home and footage of it was shown on the BBC programme

DWP raided her Chelsea Harbour home and footage of it was shown on the BBC programme

‘The nature of this offending was fraudulent from the outset and committed to fund your lavish and extremely comfortable lifestyle.

‘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 and clothes.

‘You had a flat in Chelsea paid for by your fraudulent activities and your son had all the material benefits he could want.

‘Once discovered you could not face up to the consequences and you fled to mainland Europe until you were brought back.

‘There’s very little evidence you have shown any remorse before you went to ground in Paris.’

Amisi was also ordered to pay a statutory victim surcharge and the Department of Work and Pensions will seek a court order to reclaim the money stolen. 



Read more at DailyMail.co.uk