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A benefits cheat from Birmingham duped city council officials to pocket thousands of pounds she was not entitled to.

Francine Best, also known as Francine Smithen, kept claiming social care funds for her mum, despite her parent's death.

Best’s mum died in September 2020 but she did not tell Birmingham City Council, which continued to pay some £35,464 in direct payments to look after her parent.

The 64-year-old kept claiming the money and spent it on herself.

Details of her mum’s death were discovered in February 2022.

The city council’s fraud team then investigated and found Best falsely told a social worker in September 2021 that her mother was alive, a year after she had died.

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Best also provided false information from the outset of the direct payment

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