€20,000 one-parent claim while married

A woman, who obtained more than €20,000 in one parent family payments while she was married, has been spared a custodial sentence.

Esther Ogundare, aged 40, of Bremore Pastures Drive, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, was fined €1,000 after she was prosecuted the Department of Social Protection. The fraud was detected when she applied for a bereavement grant after her husband died.

Prosecution solicitor Joseph Maguire told Judge John Brennan at Dublin District Court that the total fraud was €20,406, but the woman has repaid €17,783.