Friday 25 November 2022 06:41 PM Virgin Atlantic air stewardess committed £10k benefit fraud and spent money on ... trends now
A brazen benefits cheat defrauded the taxpayer for £10,000 while lavishing cash on a boob job, other cosmetic surgery and a Peloton exercise bike has been sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work.
Former Virgin Atlantic air stewardess Mercedes Bradley, 31, claimed Universal Credit benefits even though she had £48,000 in a secret bank account where she received payments from 'ex-boyfriends' - one of whom transferred her more than £30,000.
Bradley, of Ironworks close, Cinderford, Gloucestershire, admitted failing to declare capital after DWP investigators caught up with her, bringing her spending spree to an end.
The charge she admitted was of dishonestly failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of capital savings or investments which would affect entitlement to Universal Credit between March 26 2020 and August 28 2021.
Bradley used the stolen taxpayer cash to live on while spending tens of thousands of pounds on cosmetic surgery including a breast lift and designer dental work, the DWP said.
After receiving a tip-off, the DWP's Financial Investigation Unit team questioned Bradley.
But she claimed the payments were from various ex-boyfriends, who transferred her £47,780 in total.
Former Virgin Atlantic air stewardess Mercedes Bradley (pictured), 31, defrauded the taxpayer for £10,000 in benefits even though she had £48,000 in a secret bank account
Bradley (pictured) used the stolen taxpayer cash to live on while spending tens of thousands of pounds on cosmetic surgery including a breast lift and designer dental work
The DWP also discovered Bradley used the money to pay for luxuries such as a personal trainer and a £4,000 Peloton exercise bike, as well as the monthly subscription.
Despite the cash injections, she had been fraudulently claiming a total of £9,147.11 in Universal Credit between March 2020 and August 2021. Bradley had been claiming the benefit legitimately from June 2018 to March 2020.
Universal Credit rules state that any claimant must not have any capital higher than £16,000 to be eligible.
Following the court hearing yesterday, Bradley was sentenced to a 12-month community order with a requirement of 150 hours unpaid work. She will also face a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing in the Spring.
Karl Williams, defending, said: 'When she separated from her partner she made a legitimate claim for benefits. She moved from Swindon to where her family were living in the Cinderford area.
'This had a significant effect on her mental health. Fortunately, two of her previous partners were able to help her out financially and gave her in the region of £50,000. This is what affected her benefit entitlement.
'She has since lost her employment as an air hostess with Easyjet, but more significantly with Virgin Atlantic she is now unable to
