Joyce Msokeri pleaded not guilty to fraud (Picture: PA)

A woman has denied pretending she was a victim of the Grenfell Tower disaster to pocket more than £10,000 in handouts.

Joyce Msokeri is accused of claiming cash, accommodation and clothes meant for survivors of the tower block blaze that killed 71 people.

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Prosecutors say the 46-year-old Zimbabwean national scammed charities, the Hilton hotel chain and the local council out of help for survivors.

It is alleged that Msokeri told the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) she was living in flat 142 when the fire broke out on June 14 last year.


She was put up at the Hilton in Kensington, it is claimed, and allegedly received clothing, footwear and electric equipment from various charities.

The tower block blaze in west London killed 71 people (Picture: PA)

She was arrested and interviewed after allegedly making false statements to RBKC and the charities, as well as possessing a provisional driving license that was ‘improperly obtained’ between 13 June and 5 September 2017.



Msokeri, of Ambleside Gardens in Sutton, south London, was later charged with three counts of fraud and one of possessing an identity document with improper intention.

At a short hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, she pleaded not guilty to all four charges.

Her trial is due to begin on Wednesday.