The Grenfell Tower fire back in June left hundreds devastated, with no homes, no possessions and lost family members. There have been at least twenty suicide attempts from survivors, with some people being led to drug and alcohol dependency.
Sadly, one woman saw the tragedy as an opportunity to make money, and has appeared in court charged with seven counts of fraud related to the fire.
Joyce Msokeri is accused of falsely claiming her husband died in the fire and has fraudulently claimed £10,000 of support that was being offered to survivors.
Her attempts weren’t light either. The charges state that she allegedly made false claims to the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea for money and accommodation at the Hilton hotel, attempted to claim food and clothing from charities, told hospitals that she was the wife of a patient and even made false representations to HMRC and a GP surgery in Kensington & Chelsea.
The 46-year-old from Sutton was arrested on the 25th of July and will appear before Westminster magistrates court on Tuesday 12th September.
Msokeri is the second person to be charged with fraud after the fire, following Anh Nhu Nguygen who pretended his family died in the fire to claim £10,000 from the victims’ relief fund.