A SHARP warning has gone out to benefits cheats who play the system that they will be tracked down anywhere in the world and prosecuted. It comes following the imprisonment of a self-proclaimed agoraphobic who pocketed £134,000 by claiming she was too scared to leave her house. Karen Trant, 52, of Carey Road, Dartmouth, was jailed for more than two years after she was caught living for large parts of the year in Goa and spending the cash on cosmetic surgery. Trant claimed she could not leave the house alone, travel alone, or go to unfamiliar places, when she claimed disability living allowance, income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit. However, Department for Work and Pensions investigators discovered that she spent up to six months a year abroad in an apartment she bought at the Highland Beach resort in Candolim in 2004 during her claim, and underwent various expensive cosmetic surgery procedures while in Goa. At Plymouth Crown Court last Friday, Trant admitted three counts of unlawful representation for obtaining benefits between August 1999 and April 2013. Sentencing her to 27 months in prison, Judge Paul Darlow said: 'You extracted from the public purse £134,000 of benefits to which you were not entitled to. 'You did so by misrepresentation from the outset. 'You chose to describe your behaviour as stupid – I choose to describe it as fraudulent.' Afterwards, Allan McColgan, DWP fraud manager in the south west, said: 'Our fraud investigators have powers to track benefit cheats around the world and bring them before the courts. 'We are determined to crack down on people who play the system, so that benefits only go to those who really need this help. 'In addition to any sentence imposed by the court, fraudsters must pay back all the money they falsely obtained and face a criminal record for life.' Scheming Trant pocketed disability handouts she wasn't entitled to over 13-year period. But officials began a probe into the perma-tanned blonde after coming across photos of her posing on an exotic beach, riding a horse and preparing for plastic surgery. Plymouth Crown Court was told the brazen fraudster spent up to five months a year in the Indian party resorts of Goa where she bought her own £14,000 holiday apartment. She was also jetting into the country for a string of cosmetic procedures including a tummy tuck, liposuction, teeth whitening – and work on her 'bingo wings' The court was told Trant split from her husband in 1999 and applied for income support a month later, failing to disclose the large sums she received in their divorce settlement. After making the first of numerous trips to Goa in 2001, she made more claims for housing and council tax support. A year later she made a further claim for disability living allowance, claiming she was suffering from anxiety, depression and mood swings. Prosecutor Sarah Vince told the court that just a day later Trant was issued with a six-month tourist visa allowing her to return to India. In 2004, she purchased an apartment in Goa costing £14,000-£15,000 which she failed to declare to the benefit agencies. In spite of her frequent holidays, Trant renewed her claim for disability allowance two years later, again describing herself as feeling depressed and unable to go outside alone. The court heard that three days after that form was lodged in 2006, she made inquiries to plastic surgeons in India asking about tummy tucks, liposuctions and something which would make her face wrinkle free. The DWP began investigating Trant in June 2011. Her property was searched and investigators discovered several photographs of her riding a horse and lounging around in the sun. Defending, Bathsheba Cassel said Trant had suffered from mental health issues for 30 years which had an impact on her decision making. She said she had self-harmed in the past and had made several attempts to take her own life. She said she was now living with her daughter and living on around £50 a week. Claire Busby, a lawyer with the Crown Prosecution Service's specialist fraud division, said: 'Karen Trant failed to notify authorities of cash from her divorce settlement in 1999, that she frequently holidayed in Goa and that, in 2004, she had bought an apartment there. Had she done so, she would not have been entitled to the benefits she claimed. 'The Karen Trant seen confidently riding a horse in the photographs seems a world away from the highly-dependent and anxiety-ridden individual she purported to be to justify her welfare benefits claims. 'This façade was completely undermined by her extravagant lifestyle, involving repeated lengthy trips to Goa and cosmetic surgery. 'The benefits system exists to support the most vulnerable in our society and Karen Trant had no entitlement to these benefits. She tried to conceal her wrongdoing, but was brought before the criminal courts and convicted by the jury.' Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the Tax Payers' Alliance, said: 'Hard-working taxpayers will be appalled by this case. 'Benefit fraudsters are the exception, not the rule, but those that treat their fellow Brits as a cashcow to be milked must be brought to justice. 'Fraud is not just stealing from the taxpayer, but taking money away from those that really need the safety net.' Anyone who suspects they know someone that is fraudulently claiming benefits can call the national benefit fraud hotline on 0800 854440.