Fraudster is told to repay £90,000

A FRAUDSTER who rented out a property she was supposed to be living in has been ordered to pay back more than £90,000 for her part in a lucrative council house scam.

Monica Li purchased her council house, valued at £65,000, from Your Homes Newcastle in 2011 for £40,950, successfully applying for a £24,050 discount under the Government’s Right to Buy scheme.

However, there was a strict condition attached which said that the property in Lampeter Close, Etal Park, Newcastle, was her principal home.

But instead of living in the two-bed mid-terrace property, she was living in another house in Sunderland after buying it at a vastly reduced price due to the discount and renting it out.

At Newcastle Crown Court in July 2020, Monica Li received a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months, after admitting fraud under the Government’s Right to Buy scheme.

At a Proceeds of Crime Hearing on March 8 this year, Li, aged 44, of Wetherall Close, Sunderland, was ordered to pay back £90,950.

The judge took into account the discount she received at the time of the purchase, the rental income, appreciation in the value of the property over 10 years and other assets she had accrued.

The prosecution was brought by Newcastle City Council on behalf of Your Homes Newcastle (YHN).

Cabinet member for housing, Coun Linda Hobson, said: “Purchasing a council house fraudulently by claiming a discount and then renting it out while living elsewhere is indefensible – especially when there is such a need for affordable social housing. It’s morally wrong, dishonest, and has severely backfired in this instance.”