A crooked Bromley maths tutor has been slapped with a suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud.

It comes as the council says it is clawing back thousands of pounds lost to two housing fraudsters this year.

Faut Aydemir, 52, pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court to fraud after it was exposed that the tutor had lied to Bromley Council in order to get housing assistance.

In court, it was outlined that in February 2014, Aydemir approached the council for housing assistance as he was due to be evicted from his address in Mornington Avenue.

Staff became suspicious when post began to be returned from the temporary accommodation he had been given, with a forwarding address, of a privately rented property in Hastings Road, Bromley.

Investigations showed that Aydemir had links to the Hastings Road property and in spite of several visits to the temporary accommodation, no reply was received.

Aydemir, accepted in court in June that he had acted dishonestly by not telling the council he was not living in temporary accommodation, and accepted causing a financial loss of £14,944 to Bromley Council as a result.

The fraudster was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to work 200 hours unpaid in the community within the next 12 months.

Councillor Neil Reddin, chairman of the audit sub committee, said: “In addition to the criminal conviction, the sentences the court imposes, the loss of reputation, it is not widely understood that the council will also pursue you for its financial losses too.

“There are lots of reasons people commit fraud but if you are claiming monies or benefits you are not entitled to, you need to stop now.  We will always look to prosecute where the evidence exists and recover any losses, ever mindful that the council is ultimately the custodian of this money on behalf of us all.”

Court papers show that £24k has been paid out to two claimants who made fraudulent claims for housing this year.

In a second prosecution, in April , a Penge resident was found guilty at Bromley Magistrates Court of defrauding Bromley Council, under sections 1 and 3 of the Fraud Act 2006 and was sentenced to an 18 month Conditional Discharge and ordered to pay costs of £250 and a £20 Victim Surcharge.