Carer claimed payments a year after client's death

Felicitas Ndavambi continued to submit regular timesheets after his client's death

A carer who carried on claiming payments a year after the death of their client has avoided jail.

Felicitas Ndavambi, from Wolverhampton, was paid by the city council to care for a person in their home but did not inform authorities of their death and continued to submit timesheets.

It was not until a social worker subsequently discovered the person had died that the fraud was discovered, the council said.

Ndavambi, 75, was given a 12-month jail sentence suspended for 12 months after previously pleading guilty to one count of dishonestly making a false representation.

In March 2023, the social worker discovered that the client had passed away the year before, but the local authority had not been notified.

An investigation by its Counter Fraud Team subsequently found that, following the death and for almost a year afterwards, Ndavambi, of Westbourne Road in Penn, continued to submit regular timesheets and claimed funding for providing continued care to the deceased.

He had "breached trust", Mr Recorder Mills told Ndavambi when he sentenced him at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 3 May.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £150 and a victim surcharge of £156.

Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, cabinet member for Adults and Wellbeing, said the local authority had a "zero-tolerance" policy on fraud and would "not hesitate to take action".