A Hove business consultant who was caught out making more than £2,000 worth of fake delay repay claims has been ordered to pay the money back.
Kristin Magnuson, 49, admitted fraudulently making £2,136 worth of claims to Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) between November 2016 and May 2017 at Brighton Magistrates Court last month.
Magnuson, a US citizen of Westbourne Gardens, Hove, made the claims for journeys she had not made during the protracted strike action which hit services on the Brighton mainline.
As well as repaying the money, she was given a community order and ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work, and ordered to pay £85 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
When passing sentence on April 11, chair of the bench Chris Bell told her he was giving her credit for her guilty plea.
A Govia Thameslink Railway spokesman said: “We take these matters very seriously. When appropriate we will hand cases over to the police and pursue them through court as a deterrent against attempts to defraud.”
The money paid out to passengers under the delay repay scheme is paid from fare income which would otherwise be passed to the Department for Transport.
