A benefits fiddler has been ordered to repay £20,000 to taxpayers or go to jail after a Judge rejected her claim she was penniless.
Sheena Tugwood swindled more than £30,000 by posing as the carer of her partner when in fact they were living together and eventually married.
She escaped a jail sentence last year after Exeter Crown Court heard how she was in mourning for fellow conspirator Roderick Tugwood, who killed himself while awaiting trial for the swindle.
Tugwood, who is also known by her maiden name of Pattle, was brought back to court under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
She told Judge Barry Cotter, QC, she had no money to pay compensation despite selling her home for £115,000 and giving £15,500 of the proceeds to her son.
The Judge ruled she had deliberately given the money away to prevent her having to repay it and ordered she must do so, along with the £4,815 that is left from the £45,000 equity she had in her home in Dawlish.
Tugwood, aged 51, formerly of Coronation Road, Dawlish, admitted two counts of conspiracy to defraud at the earlier hearing in September and was jailed for 12 months, suspended for 12 months.
At that hearing the Judge showed mercy after being told she was severely depressed because of the suicide of her 54-year-old wheelchair bound husband, who had been facing £60,000 fraud charges.
Pattle was his one-off partner and companion from 1998 when he started making false claims and she married him in April 2103.
She has now been ordered to repay £20,315 to Teignbridge Council and the Department of Work and Pensions within six months or serve 18 months in jail.
Judge Cotter told her he found her explanation of how and why she paid the money to her son to be 'unconvincing'.
He said it was highly unlikely the son could have lent her the money at the time she said he did because he was only 21, working in a mobile phone shop, and would not have had the cash to spare.
The Judge said he believed the sale of the house in Coronation Road for £115,000 to Tugwood's nephew had been at least £20,000 below its true value but accepted she no longer had any claim on the property, which is now valued at £150,000.
He also rejected Tugwood claim there was nothing left of the £45,000 she received from the sale, saying figures which she herself had supplied showed she had not spent all the money.
In the original case in which she was charged under the name of Pattle, Mr Malcolm Galloway, prosecuting, said the false claims started in 1998 and carried on until a DWP investigation in 2009. Those involving Pattle totalled £32,767.91.
He said:"The fraud was relatively simple to the extent he indicated he was living at an address and she was his landlady and so benefit was paid to him and she had access to it.
"It is right to say the documents used in these frauds flowed predominantly from Mr Tugwood. The matter came to light as a result of investigation and it was discovered this defendant and Mr Tugwood were partners.
"There was evidence from those who saw them together and spoke to them during that time. She said in interview she was his carer but could not explain why she had described them as partners in forms for mortgage and credit card applications.
"We are aware they married in April this year and recently the prosecution were informed of the tragic news he had taken his own life, having pleaded guilty to firearms charges which carried a minimum sentence.
"The Crown take the view this matter should be dealt with in the light of the medical evidence which shows that understandably and obviously the defendant is distraught over Mr Tugwood's death."
Mr Nicolas Gerasimidis, defending, said:"The circumstances of this case are tragic. He became her husband on April 6 and over the years it has been a long and complicated relationship.
"She has been substantially traumatised and has suffered depression, insomnia and very painful neuropathy, all exacerbated by Mr Tugwood's untimely demise. Ultimately she has shown contrition and acceptance of what she has done."
