A Northern Ireland woman allegedly claiming income support owned and rented out more than 40 houses worth £3 million, it was revealed today.
The Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) also claimed Frances McCluskey had two cars as well as undisclosed money in a number of bank and building society accounts.
Details emerged after the Agency was granted a High Court order to freeze her assets, which allows an interim receiver to move in to manage the properties while a further detailed inquiry is carried out in advance of a legal application to have the assets forfeited.
It is the first case of its type in Northern Ireland after the agency took over the investigative work of social security officials probing false claims last September.
Ms McCluskey, it is alleged, was also in receipt of other aid, including housing benefit, even though she owned 42 properties, mainly in west Belfast.
She has an address at Priory Park, off the city's upper Lisburn Road, and traded under the name of Parkdale Homes. A bank account in the name of a woman, Bernadette Maria Donnelly, believed to be her sister living in New Jersey, in the US, has also been frozen.
The ARA alleged at the High Court in Belfast that Ms McCluskey had been claiming income support benefit since 1993, but failed to declare she was trading in property and developing a substantial housing portfolio.
It was also claimed she made a number of false declarations about her assets, including substantial rental income when making mortgage applications.
The legal action is the latest in a series of moves by the the ARA as part of a crackdown on organised crime in Northern Ireland. Assistant director Alan McQuillan said: "We are now working closely with a number of government departments, assisting them in relation to other cases. We are also actively discussing further referrals from them."
PA