A refugee from Afghanistan who lived in a £1.2million mansion paid for with £3,000-a-week in housing benefit was spared jail today after admitting benefit fraud. Toorpakai Saiedi, 38, a mother of seven, shocked Britain when it emerged that New Labour rules allowed her to live in the luxury home at taxpayers' expense.
One of her seven children even boasted that having the house in Acton, west London, was like winning a lottery jackpot - and suggested it was 'mad' for the state to pay out so much.
While receiving the huge handouts, Saiedi was building up her own savings and hiding a private income of £16,000-a-year.
She admitted swindling the taxpayer out of £30,000 in housing benefit, working tax credit and council tax credit by not telling officials about her Barclays bank account.
But today she was handed a 10-month sentence, suspended for two years, and 150 hours community service instead of going to prison.
Recorder Oscar Del-Fabbro, sitting at Isleworth Crown Court, told her: 'You knew full well this was dishonest. The claim went on for just under three years.
'The full amount obtained by you dishonestly was just short of £30,000, a £30,000 loss to the public revenue.'
Prosecutor Henrietta Paget told Isleworth Crown Court that the offences covered fraudulent claims for council tax benefit, housing benefit and income support.
At the time she was receiving benefits totalling £170,000 a year, including an astonishing £150,000 paid to a private landlord for the rent of the property - the equivalent to £12,500 a month. Read More
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