A mum-of-four was caught pocketing £20,000 in benefits after lying about living with her partner.
Kirsty Benn failed to tell the Department of Work and Pensions she was living with Mark Campbell at her home in Wallyford, East Lothian.
The 35-year-old was called in for an interview by DWP staff and lied about staying with him under questioning.
The DWP had investigated her Universal Credit claims through checks with a bank and the TalkTalk mobile phone service provider.
Benn appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday to admit the charge.
She pled guilty to knowingly failing to give prompt notification to the DWP of a change of her circumstances affecting her benefit in that she’d been living with Campbell.
The offending took place between July 2016 and May 2018.
Defence agent Mary Moultrie said Benn would still been entitled to some benefits if she’d alerted the DWP about her living situation.
Ms Moultrie said her client, a first offender, was making repayments to the £20,000.
Sheriff Douglas Keir said it was a “substantial sum” and a “serious matter”.
He deferred sentence on Benn until next month for reports.
