A Hadleigh woman has denied acting fraudulently when she allegedly transferred an inheritance into a bank account in her son's name 10 days before she filed for bankruptcy to avoid paying debts,.

Barbara Bentley, of Yeoman Crescent, Hadleigh, pleaded not guilty at Ipswich Crown Court to fraudulently disposing of property by making a gift while declared bankrupt,. 

The court heard Bentley, 59, was declared bankrupt on March 24, 2017, after she submitted an online application the day before.

Bentley is alleged to have transferred £75,000 of an £80,769 inheritance in 2014 following the death of an aunt in Ontario, Canada, in May 2011, who had not made a will. 

In the application for Bankruptcy, Bentley said she was unable to pay debts totalling more than £27,000 to Babergh District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for benefit overpayments and council tax arrears. 

Prosecuter Leila Chaker, outlining the case for the Insolvency Service, told the jury that 10 days prior to the application being submitted - on March 13 - Bentley had transferred £75,000 to a bank account in the name of her son, Robson. 

The court hear that when the Insolvency Service contacted Bentley about the money transfer, she told investigators she had been advised by Citizens Advice to do so. 

She said the money was bequeathed to her son and she was holding it in her account. 

Bentley owed £11,786 to Babergh District Council for housing benefit overpayment, and a further £3,600 to the authority for council tax arrears, the court heard. 

She also owed £11,539 to the DWP for job seekers' allowance benefit overpayment. 

The hurt heard that Bentley's debts to Babergh were written off while the debt of £11,539 to the DWP was paid back in September 2017.

The trial continues.