The unmarried 'widow' of a millionaire buy-to-let boss has won a £400,000 share of his fortune in a court fight with his children.
But in a stunning turn of events, Cindy Jassal, 57, could be stripped of hundreds of thousands of pounds - and face jail - after her own evidence in court revealed that she is a benefits cheat.
London's High court heard that Fiaz Ali Shah, 64, died in April 2020 as the UK lurched into lockdown, leaving behind a property portfolio and £1.1 million in the bank.
His last will from 2018 bequeathed all his wealth to his son, leaving his cash-strapped widow without a penny.
Cindy had been married to Mr Shah in an Islamic ceremony more than 20 years ago, but the couple never underwent a civil marriage and so were not legally bound as husband-and-wife.
She sued for a payout from his £1million estate following his death, insisting they had lived together as spouses and she was entitled to be supported despite being cut out of his will.
A judge at the High Court ruled in her favour, accepting her evidence that the couple had lived together as 'husband and wife' and handing her a £385,000 payout.
But he went on to find Cindy had committed 'very serious' fraud by pretending to her local authority that she and Mr Shah were not co-habiting in order to fraudulently claim housing benefit, meaning she could face time behind bars.
Srendarjit Kaur Jassal (pictured), 57, the 'widow' of a millionaire buy-to-let boss has won a £400,000 share of his fortune in a court fight with his children
Judge Marsh ordered that a transcript of the judgment and Cindy's own evidence, in which she admitted housing benefit fraud, should be sent to the authorities for investigation.
Ruling on the case this week, he ordered that details of her 'very serious' dishonesty be passed on to her local council, the DWP and HMRC for investigation.
And he ordered that £200,000 of her payout be held back to give the authorities the chance to make a claim against her to recoup any wrongly paid benefits.
The court heard Mr Shah, whose real name was Faiz Ali Shah but was known as 'Alan', made his money through buy-to-lets and property maintenance.
He and Ms Jassal, whose real name is Srendarjit but goes by the name 'Cindy', were married in an Islamic ceremony in 2003, after she converted to Islam.
In 2006, they moved to a house he had earlier bought in Sussex Close, Slough.
They briefly parted in 2012, but she said they were back living together as if they were a married couple when he died.
However, his last will, dated 2018, left his entire estate, including a string of properties and £427,000 cash, to his son.
Cindy sued for 'reasonable provision' from Mr Shah's fortune, claiming they had lived together at Sussex Close as 'husband and wife' in the years before he died.
But the son, backed by his sisters Sabrina, Sofia and Shabana, claimed that their dad and Cindy were not truly in a marriage-like relationship after 2012.
At that point, she had moved out of their Sussex Close home and into another property in his name in nearby Salt Hill Mansions, which was paid for with housing benefits.
But Cindy claimed the move was a sham, that she part-owned the other property, and that
