More than 200 cases, including illegal subletting, blue badge misuse, false council tax claims and dishonest job applications, were investigated by Ealing Council’s fraud team, according to its latest internal audit and investigations update.
The report reveals a combined financial impact of £701,000 between April and September 2025, with Labour-run Ealing Council officers preventing losses, recovering properties and identifying internal misconduct across several services. It also describes how an agency worker’s assignment was terminated after investigators found they had altered their CV to conceal dual working in Ealing and another London borough at the same time.
The figures are set out in the council’s Quarter 2 Internal Audit and Investigation Update Report, written by Mike Pinder, the assistant director of audit and investigations.
Investigators handled 207 new cases during the period and completed 205. According to the council report, 33 cases were proven as economic crime.
Housing related fraud accounted for the largest financial impact. Nine council homes were recovered after tenants were found to be subletting or living elsewhere, which the report estimates prevented losses of £378,000. Seven attempts to obtain a council tenancy through false declarations were stopped, valued at £35,000, and two Right to Buy applications were refused over fraudulent information, worth a further £32,000.
The council also cancelled six bed and breakfast placements used for temporary accommodation after unannounced inspections revealed that residents were not occupying rooms being funded by the authority. Officers estimate this prevented annual costs of £194,158.
Further cases were identified through the National Fraud Initiative, a Cabinet Office data matching programme. These involved incorrect council tax reduction claims, misuse of single person discounts and fraudulent blue badge use.
In total, 99 blue badge cases were identified, with a combined value of £209,616. Pension fraud, including payments continuing after deaths, totalled £247,820. Council tax reduction fraud amounted to £64,716, while a small number of housing waiting list cases were valued at £12,849.
Four council tax discounts were removed following direct investigations, resulting in £5,253 being added to accounts. Additional council tax overpayments totalling £9,538 were also identified for recovery.
Two existing council workers also received disciplinary action following separate investigations, with the sanctions valued at £48,000 in avoided financial loss. The report does not state whether these cases resulted in dismissal.
A wider series of internal employment irregularities was identified through the council’s enhanced vetting checks. Between April and September, 14 recruitment cases were either failed, withdrawn or had assignments ended after issues such as false employment histories, inflated qualifications, misleading references or benefit fraud within a household were uncovered.
In one case highlighted in the report, a candidate for a management role provided a fabricated employment record, overstated qualifications and a false reference. They were prevented from taking up the post.
An Ealing Council spokesperson told EALING.NEWS: “These cases are great examples of the important work we are doing to tackle fraud. Financial crime has a direct impact on our ability to support residents who are in genuine need, and we are committed to ensuring public money is safeguarded so it can be spent where it is most needed. Our fraud team works diligently to investigate suspicious cases, and we will always take the strongest action we can to deter others from committing the same acts.”
Councillor Gary Malcolm, the leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats, told EALING.NEWS: “Liberal Democrats have uncovered waste and inefficiency in many areas of the council activities. It is important and right that the Labour-run Ealing Council admit to some of the many incidences of fraud and then rigorously stop them from happening again.
“Liberal Democrats are still fighting the council to introduce a virtual blue badge which will help reduce blue badge theft and fraud but sadly the Labour councillor in charge of this area has buried her head in the sand.
“Labour also fail with many examples of housing related fraud. They are very poor at treating tenants with respect when many urgent repairs are not made within a reasonable timespan and seem also to be letting people get away with many housing frauds.”
