A mother of two who scooped £95,000 on TV’s Deal or No Deal was warned she faced jail today after tearfully admitting being a benefits cheat.
Caroline Banana, 40, pleaded guilty at North Staffordshire Magistrates Court to hiding the giant windfall she won on Noel Edmonds’s Channel 4 gameshow.
The court heard Banana filled out a benefits form in April 2011, weeks after her appearance was filmed on March 22.
On a section of the form which asks applicants to declare any money they are owed, the ex-GP receptionist said she was not due any cash - despite her massive win just weeks before.
Banana won the cash on the Channel 4 programme telling viewers she would use her good fortune to buy her own home and help her family in Africa.
After her win, the mother of two, from Stoke-on-Trent, hugged host Noel Edmonds and posed for pictures with him and her husband Michael, 48.
Prosecutor Trevor Vernon told the court Banana had submitted the bogus income support claim in April 2011.
He said: 'The trigger to the whole episode was Miss Banana completing an income support application on the 12 April 2011.
'To the question "is there money owed to you or your children?" she ticked "no" on that form.
'This was quite clearly not the case because in March that year she won the £95,000 and was awaiting payment of that money and that payment was due in May.'
On the show, each contestant is assigned a numbered box which contains a cash value unknown to them or the audience.
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During the game, they reject the other sealed boxes, which contain amounts ranging from 1p to £250,000, one by one, hoping not to lose the higher value sums.
The show’s mysterious ‘banker’ regularly tries to tempt the contestant to ‘deal’ by making offers to buy their box depending on which sums remain in the game.
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Victory: Banana, pictured with Noel Edmonds after making her deal, appeared in court today and sobbed as she admitted the offences
In the hot seat: Banana failed to tell the authorities about her winnings from Channel 4's show Deal or No Deal
Deal or No Deal contestant Caroline Banana on trial for benefit...
Banana’s box originally contained £250,000 but she accepted a swap that left her with a box containing just £5,000.
After initially rejecting a £35,000 offer from the banker, she then sold it to him for £95,000.
She said at the time: ‘I felt a bit nervous [appearing on the show] as it was the moment I was waiting for.
‘When I was walking on stage I could feel myself trembling but when I stood next to Noel I calmed down a little bit.
‘I was thinking that I was not a lucky person but something made me carry on.’
A statement on the show’s website said the win meant ‘Caroline can buy a home, allow Michael to finish his degree and help her family back in Africa’. Just 14 months after her television appearance, however, Stoke-on-Trent City Council accused her of being a benefit cheat.
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Caroline Banana with Noel Edmonds and her husband Michael on Deal Or No Deal in November 2011
As well as income support, the court heard that Zimbabwe-born Banana had submitted bogus claims for housing and council tax benefit.
In total, the court heard she had claimed £6147.92 in handouts to which she was not entitled between April 8, 2011 and March 23, 2012.
She also claimed free school meals - a total of £1,129.90 - between May 2011 and April 2012, but the court heard these are classed separately to other benefits.
Caroline Banana struck lucky on the show but was prosecuted after ticking a box saying she was owed no money
Wearing a smart trouser suit and gold earrings, Banana wept as she entered guilty pleas to six fraud charges.
Mr Vernon added that the Department for Work and Pensions had received an anonymous tip-off about her win after she was spotted on the show.
He said: 'The investigation into Miss Banana’s benefits claim began as a result of an anonymous call saying that she had had appeared on ‘Deal or No Deal’, broadcast in November 2011, and that she’d won a prize of £95000.
'She was interviewed under caution by investigators on the July 7 2012 and to be fair she co-operated and admitted not declaring her employment and admitted she had won £95,000 on the TV show.
'She agreed that she should not have been entitled to the free school meals for her three children.”
The court heard that Banana, who previously lived in Stockport, Greater Manchester, had been working for three different employers between September 2011 and December 2011.
She was employed by a local GP surgery, hospital and chemist’s in Stoke-on-Trent.
Prosecutor Mr Vernon also revealed that Banana had a previous conviction for shoplifting in 2002.
District judge David Taylor ordered a pre-sentence report on Banana before passing sentence, but warned her that he may impose a custodial sentence.
He said: 'All options are appropriate in this particular case'.
David Green, defending, said Banana had a ‘complicated’ home life.
He said: 'There is a significant amount of personal mitigation in this case which will be reflected in the (pre-sentence) report.'
Judge Taylor bailed Banana and ordered her to return to court next Monday for sentencing.
Banana refused to comment outside court.
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