A FORMER model who fraudulently claimed thousands in disability benefits despite starring in a Playboy film was today ordered to repay £50,000.
Julia Martinez claimed over £44,000 over a three-year period — despite earning money from photo shoots and movies while running a successful photography company.
Inspectors found she had also “appeared in a Playboy film” – details of were not disclosed in court, but it was released on DVD.
Police found that 45-year-old Martinez held bank accounts in the UK and overseas, including the Isle of Man and Jersey, after raiding her home in 2012, a court heard.
She pleaded guilty to five charges for falsely claiming benefits over a three year period and received a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for one year, in January 2015.
Martinez, of Cheltenham, Glos., claimed income support of £27,908.67, disability benefit of £14,112 and a council tax relief claim of £2,178.63.
At Bristol Crown Court today Martinez was slapped with a confiscation order for £50,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
George Threlfall, QC, prosecuting, told the court Martinez had shown a “pattern of mendacity” for the last two years since her conviction.
He said her available assets were “greater than” she had declared, including the sale of a Spanish property she inherited from her father which sold for 110,000 euros.
Mr Threlfall also claimed Miss Martinez had bank accounts in Spain, Jersey and the Isle of Man which “she failed to provide details for”.