Beddows and Godbold

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0:00:02 > 0:00:05Billions of pounds' worth of our taxes should be going to the most needy.

0:00:05 > 0:00:07Trouble is, people keep stealing it.

0:00:07 > 0:00:11Welcome to the world of Saints and Scroungers.

0:00:34 > 0:00:38Saints and Scroungers puts the spotlight on benefit thieves who ruthlessly steal

0:00:38 > 0:00:41millions of pounds every year from the British taxpayer.

0:00:41 > 0:00:49And we search out the saints who help put unclaimed cash into the hands of those that need it.

0:00:50 > 0:00:53And coming up on today's programme...

0:00:53 > 0:00:57The tenant on benefits who claims there's nothing going on with her landlord,

0:00:57 > 0:00:59although the holiday snaps tell a different story.

0:00:59 > 0:01:06You wouldn't expect a normal landlord to be holidaying with their tenant.

0:01:06 > 0:01:12And we meet the saint who has transformed the lives of over 500 Parkinson's sufferers.

0:01:12 > 0:01:14I can just sit there and listen, and sometimes that can be

0:01:14 > 0:01:20as valuable to them as taking any kind of medication.

0:01:24 > 0:01:27Photographs - they're pretty important memories.

0:01:27 > 0:01:30They capture things like births, weddings and holidays.

0:01:30 > 0:01:33Sometimes they even capture things you'd rather they didn't.

0:01:33 > 0:01:36But surely if you were a benefit cheat, you wouldn't take

0:01:36 > 0:01:40photos of yourself enjoying your ill-gotten gains, would you?

0:01:40 > 0:01:43Or would you?

0:01:45 > 0:01:50Meet Marina Beddows, a 54 year-old divorcee who lives in Margate.

0:01:50 > 0:01:52She's genuinely disabled.

0:01:52 > 0:01:57She has diabetes and, after a stroke a few years ago, has problems getting around.

0:01:57 > 0:02:01So she gets £500 a week in benefits.

0:02:01 > 0:02:05Some of that money is because of her disability but some of it

0:02:05 > 0:02:09is because she's living alone and needs help to pay the rent.

0:02:11 > 0:02:14Colin Godbold is her landlord.

0:02:14 > 0:02:19He's 57, works for a coach company and also lives in Margate.

0:02:19 > 0:02:22Their relationship is strictly professional.

0:02:22 > 0:02:26Well, that's at least what they told the benefit officers, anyway.

0:02:36 > 0:02:43But an anonymous tip-off to the Department for Work and Pensions suggests that Marina and Colin

0:02:43 > 0:02:50are living together as a couple, which means she's claiming more than £70,000 she's not entitled to.

0:02:51 > 0:02:54Steve Tamsett, Fraud Service, can I help you?

0:02:54 > 0:02:59Steve Tamsett is senior fraud manager at the Department for Work and Pensions in Kent.

0:03:01 > 0:03:05Our attention was first brought to Marina Beddows and Colin Godbold

0:03:05 > 0:03:10as a result of an anonymous allegation to our benefit fraud hotline

0:03:10 > 0:03:15that Marina was not in fact renting a property from Beddows as a tenant,

0:03:15 > 0:03:17but they were in fact maintaining the household as a couple.

0:03:21 > 0:03:26Having received that information, we'll investigate all such allegations.

0:03:26 > 0:03:34Over £74 million worth of taxpayers' money is lost to what's called "living-together fraud" every year.

0:03:35 > 0:03:41It's the most common benefit scam of all, and it happens when two people who live together as a couple

0:03:41 > 0:03:48pretend they live apart so that either or both of them can claim benefits as a single person.

0:03:48 > 0:03:54This is what the anonymous tip-off was claiming Colin Godbold and Marina Beddows were doing.

0:03:56 > 0:03:59What we'd be looking for in this investigation, as Marina was

0:03:59 > 0:04:05claiming as a single person, to see really whether she was maintaining a relationship with Colin Godbold.

0:04:05 > 0:04:11By that we mean that there was some sharing of premises, sharing of responsibilities,

0:04:11 > 0:04:15sharing of financial commitments, and some relationship which is a

0:04:15 > 0:04:19long-term basis where they're going to share a life together.

0:04:20 > 0:04:24At the same time that the DWP were looking into Beddows and Godbold,

0:04:24 > 0:04:29Thanet Council were also running their own independent investigation.

0:04:30 > 0:04:33Counter fraud manager Andy Croucher was sharing information with Steve's

0:04:33 > 0:04:38team at the DWP to get to the bottom of what was going on.

0:04:40 > 0:04:49The difficulty with this case was in establishing the relationship between Mr Godbold and Mrs Beddows,

0:04:49 > 0:04:55and that that was something beyond a friendship or a landlord and tenant relationship.

0:04:58 > 0:05:04Marina Beddows was on record as living on her own in a house in Margate.

0:05:04 > 0:05:10She'd suffered from a stroke fairly early in life, and the disability was primarily that she wasn't mobile

0:05:10 > 0:05:16enough to walk any distance or to take care of herself.

0:05:16 > 0:05:20I believe she was also suffering from diabetes.

0:05:20 > 0:05:25Marina was entitled to some financial help because of her disability.

0:05:25 > 0:05:29But as a woman on her own who wasn't able to work, she could also claim

0:05:29 > 0:05:34help to pay the rent, council tax benefit and income support.

0:05:34 > 0:05:37So in total, she received £500 a week.

0:05:40 > 0:05:45Colin Godbold was on record as being Marina's landlord.

0:05:45 > 0:05:49He owned the house she lived in but claimed not to live there,

0:05:49 > 0:05:53and had a steady job working for a coach company.

0:05:53 > 0:05:57But if the two were living as a couple, Marina Beddows would only have been entitled to the

0:05:57 > 0:06:04benefits for her disability, not her housing benefit, council tax benefit or income support.

0:06:13 > 0:06:16So both the DWP and Thanet Council spring into action

0:06:16 > 0:06:20and start digging for evidence of a secret relationship.

0:06:23 > 0:06:29The team were building up a bundle of evidence relating to whether they had bank accounts,

0:06:29 > 0:06:32what ones they held jointly, what ones they held separately,

0:06:32 > 0:06:35looking at the bills relating to the property,

0:06:35 > 0:06:43who was responsible for paying them, work records for Mr Godbold and who his next of kin were declared to be.

0:06:45 > 0:06:52Several pieces of information go to building up a picture that a normal person would consider

0:06:52 > 0:06:58relevant and would point towards a couple being more a couple than just friends.

0:07:01 > 0:07:07The council possessed letters from Colin Godbold stating that he was charging Marina Beddows £95 a week.

0:07:11 > 0:07:15He lived at a different address, so everything seemed above board.

0:07:16 > 0:07:22But when the team checked out their bank accounts, it told a different story.

0:07:22 > 0:07:25We did establish that they were running joint bank accounts.

0:07:25 > 0:07:30Joint bank accounts? That's pretty unusual for a landlord and tenant.

0:07:32 > 0:07:36Sounds to me like there's a little bit more to this relationship than they were letting on.

0:07:36 > 0:07:38Investigators thought so, too.

0:07:42 > 0:07:46Having established that there was some truth in the allegation,

0:07:46 > 0:07:50we then undertook some undercover surveillance of the property.

0:07:51 > 0:07:56We'd have investigators sitting outside the property at all times of the day

0:07:56 > 0:08:01just to see who was coming and going from the property and at what times.

0:08:03 > 0:08:08The key things that our surveillance established was that Colin Godbold was at the property

0:08:08 > 0:08:14on a pretty regular basis and seemed to be moving around and conducting activities

0:08:14 > 0:08:17on the basis more of a couple than just a landlord.

0:08:19 > 0:08:22But Colin wasn't just spending a lot of time in the house.

0:08:22 > 0:08:29He was also clocking up the hours in Marina's car, which was paid for by her disability benefits.

0:08:32 > 0:08:36As I understand it, Marina Beddows had a car that she was using to help her with her mobility

0:08:36 > 0:08:41and that Colin Godbold was driving it quite frequently, which rather

0:08:41 > 0:08:43puts doubt on the suggestion that he was just a landlord.

0:08:46 > 0:08:50In fact Colin was using the car to get to work from Monday to Friday.

0:08:53 > 0:08:58But when the team followed him on some of his other journeys

0:08:58 > 0:09:03they also discovered that Colin was taking Marina's housing benefit cheques to the bank.

0:09:03 > 0:09:06He'd then withdraw the money from a cash machine.

0:09:06 > 0:09:10There was also some evidence that they were taking holidays together.

0:09:10 > 0:09:17These are details of holidays that were bought by Mrs Beddows.

0:09:17 > 0:09:23There's evidence to show in this booking that the couple booked into one room only.

0:09:26 > 0:09:30The investigators were building up all this evidence from a distance,

0:09:30 > 0:09:34with Beddows and Godbold completely unaware they were being watched.

0:09:34 > 0:09:36But all that was about to change.

0:09:36 > 0:09:39Once we had the evidence, we were in a position to authorise

0:09:39 > 0:09:43a police arrest at the property so we could search and seize any documents

0:09:43 > 0:09:47or other evidence that was there that would lend support to the fact that their relationship

0:09:47 > 0:09:52wasn't landlord of tenant but that they were in fact maintaining the household as a couple.

0:09:56 > 0:10:04Coming up, a police raid on a property provides the investigators with plenty of evidence.

0:10:04 > 0:10:07Male shirts, all male shirts...

0:10:12 > 0:10:16Next, it's farewell fraudsters and hello to the innocent people...

0:10:16 > 0:10:18our Saints...

0:10:19 > 0:10:22..those who are in genuine need of help but are too proud

0:10:22 > 0:10:26or don't know how to claim what's due to them,

0:10:26 > 0:10:29and their saintly helpers who point them in the right direction.

0:10:36 > 0:10:41Every hour, someone in the UK is told they've got Parkinson's disease.

0:10:41 > 0:10:45It's a condition that can cause shaking, involuntary movement

0:10:45 > 0:10:48or make you freeze up, and there's no known cure.

0:10:48 > 0:10:53Losing your mobility can also mean losing your independence.

0:10:53 > 0:10:57Fortunately, there are people out there who provide much-needed support.

0:11:03 > 0:11:07It's often the hardest-working people who go unnoticed, the sort of silent hero

0:11:07 > 0:11:12who doesn't do it for the money or the recognition but does it because they enjoy helping people.

0:11:15 > 0:11:17Nick Ephgrave is one of these people.

0:11:17 > 0:11:21He started working for Parkinson's UK two years ago.

0:11:21 > 0:11:27He drives around London making visits to some of the 500 people with Parkinson's on his list.

0:11:29 > 0:11:34I'm seeing a great range of people in their own home environment,

0:11:34 > 0:11:38and obviously I can see how people are coping.

0:11:39 > 0:11:42The first person Nick is off to see today is Michaela.

0:11:42 > 0:11:45She's had Parkinson's for 11 years.

0:11:46 > 0:11:49Michaela Graham-Yooll comes from Argentina

0:11:49 > 0:11:54but moved to England in 1976 with her husband and three children.

0:11:54 > 0:11:59Sadly, in 1996, her marriage ended and she's had to sell her family home.

0:11:59 > 0:12:04It was while she was moving out that she first noticed something was wrong.

0:12:04 > 0:12:06I started shaking.

0:12:06 > 0:12:13I thought it was something that, it was just to do with nerves,

0:12:13 > 0:12:18because I had a week's time to empty the whole house.

0:12:18 > 0:12:19After about a month or so,

0:12:19 > 0:12:24she decided to see a doctor, and after a lot of tests I think

0:12:24 > 0:12:27she was told she had Parkinson's disease.

0:12:28 > 0:12:36Last year, Michaela took a turn for the worse and had to go to hospital, with disastrous consequences.

0:12:36 > 0:12:40With Parkinson's, it's important to take pills

0:12:40 > 0:12:45at exact times of the day, and at home, Michaela had managed to do this.

0:12:45 > 0:12:50But it staff at the hospital decided to give out her pills while on their medical rounds,

0:12:50 > 0:12:53so they did not always come when Michaela needed them.

0:12:53 > 0:12:56And I got much worse while I was in hospital.

0:13:00 > 0:13:04Luckily, Michaela's daughter, Ines, found out about Parkinson's UK,

0:13:04 > 0:13:08and got in touch with Nick, who came to the rescue.

0:13:09 > 0:13:11She was not in a good state when I met her.

0:13:11 > 0:13:16She felt that she was kind of trapped in the hospital because she wasn't getting her medication,

0:13:16 > 0:13:19she wasn't having the proper movement she'd been used to,

0:13:19 > 0:13:21and one of the things that was happening

0:13:21 > 0:13:26was she was finding it difficult to get up to go to the loo, so she'd been placed in nappies.

0:13:26 > 0:13:29It was really quite insulting to her to be treated like that.

0:13:29 > 0:13:35She was treated as a geriatric who didn't have full control over her movements.

0:13:35 > 0:13:39We decided that the best thing to do would be to get her home as soon as possible

0:13:39 > 0:13:41and put some Social Services care

0:13:41 > 0:13:46in place until she felt well enough to be able to carry on on her own.

0:13:46 > 0:13:48The car is just up here.

0:13:48 > 0:13:52From this point on, Michaela knew she had a champion.

0:13:53 > 0:13:59For Michaela, getting less steady on her feet led to her feeling increasingly isolated.

0:14:00 > 0:14:07That is one reason why I'm going out less and less, because I'm really insecure.

0:14:07 > 0:14:09I'm scared of falling.

0:14:09 > 0:14:13But Michaela didn't just have to deal with being alone.

0:14:13 > 0:14:15She was also struggling for money.

0:14:15 > 0:14:18Apparently I was due a pension.

0:14:18 > 0:14:26I filled in the forms and sent them in, and then something was missing, so I had to start all over again.

0:14:26 > 0:14:28I think when people look at the forms

0:14:28 > 0:14:33that need to be filled in, they just seem such a mountain to climb.

0:14:33 > 0:14:35When I spoke to Mickey about her pension,

0:14:35 > 0:14:39she said that somebody from the Pensions Service had helped her before,

0:14:39 > 0:14:43but the forms had got lost in the post and they weren't giving her any follow-up help,

0:14:43 > 0:14:48so she felt she wasn't able to fill in the forms herself and then just let it go.

0:14:48 > 0:14:51I came along and contacted the Pension Service,

0:14:51 > 0:14:54got the appropriate forms and started the whole process again.

0:14:56 > 0:14:59He filled in forms for me.

0:14:59 > 0:15:03He was more effective than I had been. Other people tried to help me.

0:15:05 > 0:15:08Nick successfully secured Michaela her pension

0:15:08 > 0:15:12and four years of backdated payments on top.

0:15:12 > 0:15:15But still, he went further.

0:15:15 > 0:15:20He got her a taxi card, which gets her a cheap ride so she can do her errands.

0:15:22 > 0:15:27But it's the personal touch that means the most to people Nick helps.

0:15:27 > 0:15:32Today, he's taking Michaela to a specialist Pilates class

0:15:32 > 0:15:34for people who suffer with Parkinson's.

0:15:34 > 0:15:39The important thing is that Nick has given her independence.

0:15:39 > 0:15:43She's getting out, not feeling isolated.

0:15:43 > 0:15:49He does his work, but goes beyond what his job is, I think.

0:15:59 > 0:16:02Fraud investigators in Kent suspect that

0:16:02 > 0:16:06Colin Godbold and Marina Beddows are living together as a couple.

0:16:06 > 0:16:09There's nothing wrong with that, unless, of course, one of you

0:16:09 > 0:16:14is claiming over £70,000 in benefits that you're not entitled to.

0:16:16 > 0:16:18Godbold and Beddows were totally unaware

0:16:18 > 0:16:23that the Department for Work and Pensions and Thanet Council were investigating.

0:16:23 > 0:16:27But they were soon about to get a very early morning wake-up call.

0:16:30 > 0:16:35The fraud team were planning a police arrest and house search at 7am.

0:16:35 > 0:16:40They were hoping to catch both Marina and Colin unaware.

0:16:41 > 0:16:44The element of surprise is important,

0:16:44 > 0:16:49because there can be opportunities to come forward with different stories.

0:16:49 > 0:16:53Or indeed, to destroy the evidence that would be important to us.

0:16:53 > 0:16:57So the police arrest is a good opportunity to establish the truth

0:16:57 > 0:16:59and see exactly what's going on at the property.

0:17:01 > 0:17:04First thing in the morning, a crack team from the police,

0:17:04 > 0:17:07the DWP and Thanet Council assembled at the house

0:17:07 > 0:17:11to see if they could catch out the suspected scammers.

0:17:14 > 0:17:18On the team was a Thanet Council fraud investigator.

0:17:18 > 0:17:22Because of the covert nature of her work, we've disguised her identity.

0:17:22 > 0:17:27On the day of arrest, we met at the local police station in Margate

0:17:27 > 0:17:28at about 6 o'clock.

0:17:28 > 0:17:31We then proceeded to the property.

0:17:31 > 0:17:35Upon arriving at the property, the door was opened by Mr Godbold,

0:17:35 > 0:17:41who said that his wife was upstairs in bed, at which point Mrs Beddows

0:17:41 > 0:17:44proceeded to open an upstairs window and call down,

0:17:44 > 0:17:46asking Mr Godbold what was going on.

0:17:47 > 0:17:49His wife?

0:17:49 > 0:17:54There's a big difference between referring to someone as your tenant or your friend,

0:17:54 > 0:17:57and calling them your wife.

0:17:57 > 0:18:01The fact Mrs Beddows was upstairs and Mr Godbold answered the door

0:18:01 > 0:18:04confirmed our suspicions that they were living there as a couple.

0:18:04 > 0:18:09It was 7am. There wasn't any need for Mr Godbold to be there at that time.

0:18:09 > 0:18:12He was just getting himself ready to go to work.

0:18:14 > 0:18:18It looks like they'd caught the cheats with their pants down.

0:18:18 > 0:18:21Now they've just got to prove that this isn't just a one-off

0:18:21 > 0:18:25and that the two are living together long term.

0:18:25 > 0:18:28So a painstaking search is carried out.

0:18:30 > 0:18:33This is a police video of the search.

0:18:33 > 0:18:37It builds up a picture of what the living arrangements are

0:18:37 > 0:18:39in the property, whether they support the allegation

0:18:39 > 0:18:42that's made against the couple or whether it supports

0:18:42 > 0:18:45their own view that they're not a couple.

0:18:46 > 0:18:48Male shirts.

0:18:48 > 0:18:49All male shirts.

0:18:51 > 0:18:53Dirty basket on the landing.

0:18:53 > 0:18:56Looks like a bloke's clothing there.

0:18:56 > 0:19:00If there's an indication that there's a man living in the household,

0:19:00 > 0:19:04it's not a one-off encounter, that he's stopped overnight,

0:19:04 > 0:19:09it's clear from that that it's a fairly long-term arrangement.

0:19:09 > 0:19:10Electric shaver.

0:19:10 > 0:19:15His toiletries are in the bathroom, suggesting he's living there on a permanent basis.

0:19:17 > 0:19:20The police searched the house from top to bottom,

0:19:20 > 0:19:22and they found Marina's will,

0:19:22 > 0:19:25which included Colin Godbold as a beneficiary.

0:19:27 > 0:19:32They also found evidence that Marina wasn't as hard up as you might expect.

0:19:32 > 0:19:36During the arrest, there were two envelopes found in the property.

0:19:36 > 0:19:40One had £1,400 and the other had approximately 1,200 in.

0:19:40 > 0:19:43One of them had written on it "Marina's Holiday Fund".

0:19:47 > 0:19:49£1,400, 1,200?

0:19:49 > 0:19:52That's a lot of money to have lying around the house.

0:19:52 > 0:19:57It looks like Colin and Marina have a few pounds to spare.

0:19:57 > 0:20:01But what the police found next takes the biscuit -

0:20:01 > 0:20:03photos and video footage

0:20:03 > 0:20:07of one of the couple's luxury holidays in Orlando

0:20:07 > 0:20:10and casino capital of the world, Las Vegas.

0:20:17 > 0:20:22After the search, Marina and Colin were taken to Margate police station for questioning.

0:20:24 > 0:20:27On the day, as I understand it, Marina was not well enough

0:20:27 > 0:20:30to undertake the interview, but that was a judgment for the police

0:20:30 > 0:20:32and she was interviewed on the next day.

0:20:32 > 0:20:35But Colin Godbold was interviewed by himself,

0:20:35 > 0:20:39just to see what he had to say about these matters that we'd discovered.

0:20:41 > 0:20:47During the interview, Colin admitted that he lived at the house with Marina more than he had let on,

0:20:47 > 0:20:50which was why his bank accounts and driving licence were registered there.

0:21:07 > 0:21:11But when Colin had written letters to the council as Marina's landlord,

0:21:11 > 0:21:14they'd always been from a different address.

0:21:37 > 0:21:40The interview provided a breakthrough for the team,

0:21:40 > 0:21:44because Colin admitted he was living with Marina Beddows

0:21:44 > 0:21:45on a nearly full time basis.

0:21:48 > 0:21:51But when they called in Marina for interview six days later,

0:21:51 > 0:21:54she was insistent that there was nothing going on,

0:21:54 > 0:21:58even though Colin had referred to her as his wife.

0:22:10 > 0:22:13They claimed their relationship wasn't that of a couple,

0:22:13 > 0:22:17and that Colin was looking after Marina because of her disabilities

0:22:17 > 0:22:20and there was no relationship other than landlord and tenant.

0:22:28 > 0:22:32But although Colin had also denied they were a couple,

0:22:32 > 0:22:36the picture he painted of their life suggested otherwise.

0:22:41 > 0:22:45On the basis of the evidence, Marina's benefits were stopped.

0:22:47 > 0:22:50You'd think if fraud investigators had surveillance footage of you,

0:22:50 > 0:22:52photos of you on holiday together,

0:22:52 > 0:22:55and you'd been caught in the act defrauding the system,

0:22:55 > 0:22:59you'd hold your hands up in the air, say, "All right, it's a fair cop."

0:23:01 > 0:23:05But not Marina. She wasn't prepared to give up her benefits without a fight.

0:23:05 > 0:23:09Following the arrest and the interviews under caution

0:23:09 > 0:23:11and the benefit decision

0:23:11 > 0:23:14in which we established that there was an overpayment

0:23:14 > 0:23:17and the couple were treated as living together,

0:23:17 > 0:23:22Mrs Beddows pursued her right of appeal against that decision.

0:23:24 > 0:23:26The appeal went to a tribunal.

0:23:26 > 0:23:28All the evidence was collected up,

0:23:28 > 0:23:32witnesses called and a statement issued in which Beddows stated

0:23:32 > 0:23:36that they had never been members of the same household,

0:23:36 > 0:23:40and that the four joint accounts they shared were just to make her life easier.

0:23:42 > 0:23:45I was surprised that Mrs Beddows had appealed,

0:23:45 > 0:23:48having been aware of the amount of evidence

0:23:48 > 0:23:53the authority had gathered in support of the decision that it had made.

0:23:55 > 0:23:57Throughout the course of the tribunal,

0:23:57 > 0:24:00she was adamant that there was no relationship between them.

0:24:02 > 0:24:07It did seem strange that she was sticking to her original story.

0:24:09 > 0:24:12At the tribunal, all the evidence was laid out.

0:24:12 > 0:24:16The discovery of Colin's stuff throughout the house during the search.

0:24:16 > 0:24:18Male shirts,

0:24:18 > 0:24:19all male shirts.

0:24:19 > 0:24:23Colin referring to Marina as his wife.

0:24:23 > 0:24:25The shared holiday.

0:24:25 > 0:24:27The joint bank accounts.

0:24:27 > 0:24:31And Colin's use of Marina's car for work.

0:24:36 > 0:24:38They even called in an ex-carer

0:24:38 > 0:24:42who alleged that she had seen Colin and Marina in bed together.

0:24:44 > 0:24:47Sometimes people explore every avenue available to them.

0:24:47 > 0:24:53There was a possibility that the tribunal may decide in her favour.

0:24:53 > 0:24:56In my experience, given the evidence that we had,

0:24:56 > 0:24:58that was always going to be unlikely.

0:25:00 > 0:25:02The appeal at the tribunal failed.

0:25:02 > 0:25:04The next stop for the couple was court,

0:25:04 > 0:25:09and a date was set for February 2010 at Canterbury Crown Court.

0:25:11 > 0:25:16The system was defrauded to the extent of £70,000 on income support,

0:25:16 > 0:25:18housing benefit and council tax benefit.

0:25:18 > 0:25:22This money really is due to people who are properly entitled to it,

0:25:22 > 0:25:24the most vulnerable in society.

0:25:24 > 0:25:29So £70,000 were stolen from people who should have received this money.

0:25:33 > 0:25:37But Colin Godbold and Marina Beddows didn't get away with it.

0:25:37 > 0:25:40They both pleaded guilty for their part in scrounging:

0:25:43 > 0:25:46..from 2002 to 2007.

0:25:46 > 0:25:48In total:

0:25:55 > 0:25:58Marina Beddows was sentenced to...

0:26:05 > 0:26:08Colin Godbold received...

0:26:14 > 0:26:20And the conning couple also have to pay back all the money they owe.

0:26:20 > 0:26:22And with that kind of debt to repay,

0:26:22 > 0:26:27I doubt they'll be jetting off to the States any time soon.

0:26:27 > 0:26:32I was happy with the outcome, in that we'd seen the case to conclusion

0:26:32 > 0:26:35and we'd established that there was a fraud.

0:26:36 > 0:26:40I think people sometimes think they won't be caught.

0:26:40 > 0:26:43The likelihood is that they will be caught, because we do have

0:26:43 > 0:26:47a number of investigators who are very highly trained,

0:26:47 > 0:26:51who will use sophisticated techniques, including interrogating bank accounts

0:26:51 > 0:26:57and using undercover surveillance, to try and bring people to justice.

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