Woman charged with fraud after claiming money for Grenfell Tower survivors

A woman who allegedly falsely claimed her husband died in the Grenfell Tower fire and obtained more than £10,000 in funds allocated for survivors has appeared in court.

Joyce Msokeri, of Ambleside Gardens, Sutton, south London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with seven counts of fraud by false representation.

It is alleged the 46-year-old also falsely claimed to have a child in intensive care following the blaze earlier this year.

The court heard Msokeri made substantial claims on the basis she was a survivor of the fire.

Msokeri, who was arrested on July 26, is due to next appear in custody at Southwark Crown Court on October 3.

The charges allege she made false representations to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for money and accommodation at the Hilton hotel, to charities in order to obtain clothing and food, to hospitals that she was the wife of a patient, and also made false representations to HMRC and a GP surgery in Kensington and Chelsea.

Sending the case to crown court, District Judge Elizabeth Roscoe said: “It is a substantial amount of money.

“It is in circumstances where it is akin to a fraud on a vulnerable person who has been injured.

“It is similar to that in that of course there is a finite pot and the more that is taken out illegally, the less there is for those that deserve it.”

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