Bob and Sam/Caudwell Saints and Scroungers

The thing that makes this country really great is that we will give money to people who really need it.

But the problem with that is that wherever you have money, there'll be people trying to steal it.

Welcome to the world of Saints And Scroungers.

Saints And Scroungers puts the spotlight

on the benefit thieves who ruthlessly steal millions of pounds

every year from the British taxpayer.

And it highlights the plight of men and women who are too proud

or simply don't know how to claim the benefits they deserve.

The saints provide help, and the scroungers?

They get tracked down by the fraud investigators who put an end to their devious scams.

And coming up on today's programme...

Time runs out for a crafty couple who scrounged £130,000 from the state.

They weren't living on the breadline as they claimed to be.

And a teenager desperate to get back to school is given a saintly helping hand.

It's important to get Josh back into school,

and the one thing that's really stopping him is the physical barrier.

But first today, meet the Martins, a married couple from Essex.

They're under suspicion for the biggest benefit fraud in Epping Council's entire history,

ripping the taxpayer off to the tune of £130,000.

Epping Forest District Council in Essex covers a large area, from the urban streets of northeast London

to the villages of Hertfordshire.

It's a well-heeled part of the country.

But that doesn't stop benefit cheats abusing the system.

Unfortunately some people are very greedy,

and despite being in relatively wealthy positions,

they'll want to try and get a little bit more of something for nothing.

The investigations team will normally take on around 400 cases a year.

The annual level of overpayments arising from fraud or error

on claimants' behalf runs to about half a million pounds a year.

Like a lot of people, I'm a bit of a workaholic.

But I always try and keep my home and work life separate.

But if you are a benefit fraud investigator, you have always got

to be on duty because you never know when a cheat is going to pop up.

And if it's your job to catch them, you've always got to be on guard, no matter what you're doing.

An investigation into the Martins began when an off-duty fraud officer

was house hunting and went to view a property in Epping.

As fraud cases are very sensitive, this manager needs to remain anonymous.

They had a look around the house as you normally would do. They asked a few questions

and the estate agents said that the vendors were Bob and Sam Martin,

who were on holiday in America, and they owned several other properties.

When he returned to work, he happened to mention the house to his colleagues.

The officer was talking about the viewing when somebody realised

they'd visited Mr and Mrs Martin and they were on housing benefit.

That rang alarm bells.

If Mr and Mrs Martin did own the house, they shouldn't be claiming housing benefit.

So the fraud team checked back through the council's housing records.

Over a course of two years, they'd had three visits to clarify

and confirm their circumstances, and on each occasion they'd said they were renting privately.

They confirmed that the landlord was Portuguese

and gave an address in Portugal for him.

The couple were claiming housing benefit to cover

their £1,000 a month rent, and council tax benefit, too.

Not only that, but they said they were unemployed and were receiving income support as well.

We had visited the Martins before and were suspicious of their claim

because of the lifestyle they led.

The house was well furnished and it didn't seem plausible.

The investigation team decide to dig a little deeper.

The council undertook a land registry search, and it revealed that the owner was a Portuguese guy.

We then applied for the mortgage of the property.

We had the claim form for Mr Martin and a mortgage application

for the landlord of the property, and to us, the handwriting looked the same.

So what was going on?

This was confusing to say the least.

The Martins seemed to be selling a property, yet claiming

to the council it was owned by a Portuguese landlord.

This just didn't add up.

You could argue that the Portuguese landlord completed the mortgage form and the benefit application form.

But you could also argue that Mr Martin could've done both, so the case had to be looked into further.

The investigators suspected the Martins were the owners, but they couldn't prove it for sure.

So they decided to check the estate agents' claim that the couple owned other properties, too.

They ran credit checks and they discovered something very interesting about Samantha Martin.

We did a credit search on Samantha Martin, and it highlighted

that she had a mortgage at Chivers Road in Chingford.

The mortgage was for £80,000 but the purchase price was 130,000.

Samantha Martin had said on this application that the remainder was to come from personal funds.

This is significant because it clearly shows that the Martins had at least £50,000 in the bank

whilst receiving benefit but they'd told us that they had no money.

If you have savings of over £16,000, you are not entitled to claim housing benefit.

So it seemed the Martins had not been telling the council the truth.

The investigators also made another interesting discovery -

the Martins had both been claiming income support.

But it appeared that Samantha Martin was not long-term unemployed.

The mortgage application gave her occupation as interior designer,

earning 40,000 plus a year.

So, far from struggling to pay the rent, the Martins were doing quite nice,

thank you very much. And they were about to become even richer.

A year after purchasing the Chingford property, Mrs Martin

sold the property for £230,000,

making a £100,000 profit on top of the £50,000 that she put down initially.

This couple clearly had something to hide,

claiming to be long-term unemployed, with no income at all

yet all along buying and selling property.

And they weren't the only members of the family with secrets.

Later in the programme, it looks like Samantha Martin's sister was also cheating the system.

She claimed to live alone with her children, but in fact she had a husband living with her.

From scroungers stealing from the benefit system - and the taxpayer - to the people we call our saints,

individuals and organisations up and down the country

that go out of their way to help people in genuine need.

Few of us can envisage what it must be like to find out that you'll have

to spend the rest of your life living with a crippling illness.

But imagine for just one moment what it must be like getting news like that when you're just 14 years old.

Josh Lowe lives in Stoke on Trent with his mum Hannah and dad Steve.

His health problems started as soon as he was born.

It became apparent when he was born that there was...

something different, we'd say,

about his feet.

Basically they were tucked in, facing the wrong way.

You sort of feel like it was partially your fault.

Is it something that me and his mum did wrong?

All sorts of different thoughts go through your mind,

until an expert explains that there are other children in the world that are born with the same problem.

At just nine months old, Josh had his first operation, and spent two years in a cast.

Throughout his childhood, he has needed orthopaedic shoes and constant physio.

But he learned to live with his condition.

Then, just before his 11th birthday, Josh suffered a major setback.

He was actually playing football, Josh was, with his grandad.

It was basically just stopping,

he went to kick the ball, and as he stopped, his right knee came out.

Your whole body can't move.

It's just when your knee comes out,

it's probably your body goes into shock and you just, you can't move. It's very painful.

Agonisingly, it happened another four times,

and Josh underwent two years of tests and scans

before he was diagnosed with a lifelong condition - chronic patella instability.

His kneecap is unable to sit in its socket for long periods of time, and it can dislocate.

-The slightest knock or tap or fall...

-How he moves.

Yeah, how he walks. If he stops a bit quick when he turns,

that can cause it to come out.

In an attempt to fix his knee problem,

Josh underwent a major operation.

They had to break my bone in two places..

..to actually turn my kneecap inwards, to stop it jumping out.

Since his surgery six months ago, Josh has been forced to stay off school.

He's had to cope with constant pain and needs crutches and a wheelchair just to get around.

He is weak.

His right foot does come in even more,

now they've realigned his leg where they've operated on him.

And, you know, getting about is a problem.

Difficult for him, yeah.

Josh had lost all his teenage independence and relied on his parents round the clock.

The pressure took its toll on mum Hannah.

The stress was just too much for me.

I had to go to see me GP and be under the, you know,

relevant professionals to take care of me, which they have done.

With her failing health and Josh's needs, Hannah had to give up her job.

And with dad Steve out of work due to ill health,

the family were struggling to make ends meet.

But just when things had hit rock bottom for the Lowes, Josh's school

suggested they get in touch with a local charity called Well Children.

Serena Elkington is one of their family liaison officers.

-Hello, you all right?

-Yes, come in.

-Shoes off.

'We're out to see Josh, who recently had an operation on his knees which was quite complex.

'Went to meet Hannah and Steve, who were lovely.'

How is Josh at the moment?

'Josh is a bit depressed, to be honest.'

He plays on his PlayStation. He really wants to get out there.

He's a really fun-loving kid and he just wants to get on, really,

I suppose, and do the things that he did before his operation.

We look at ourselves as a safety net for families, getting things that they actually really do need.

It costs around three times more to care for a disabled child than a child without a disability.

So if we can somehow help them get that funding or whatever,

then you know, it's really beneficial for them.

Serena immediately got to work looking at ways she could improve life for Josh and his family.

Serena does come to the house on a regular basis,

and she will discuss things like benefits and stuff

that we might not be claiming for Joshua,

or if she's heard of any different schemes, or something that she thinks Joshua might be able to access,

she'll bring all the leaflets with her,

paperwork and anything like that.

She'll help us to fill the forms in.

She's just been a great help.

She's brought the financial side of things to us that we didn't know were there.

Serena has managed to find extra cash for the family through the Carer's Premium.

It's meant Josh can start to regain some of his teenage independence on outings

with charity volunteer Amanda.

It just takes the weight off our minds, knowing that he's in safe hands,

he's enjoying what he wants to do, and it's just nice to know that

there's an organisation out there like that that can help.

You all right, mate?

But while his social life might be improving, there's a much bigger challenge - Josh's education.

He's missed out on so much school as it is, this year.

To miss out on any more will probably hold him back,

and we don't want him to be held back because of his condition.

At this crucial time in his education,

Josh has been forced to stay at home and had to rely on visits from a home tutor.

There's a home tutor that comes around it could be once a fortnight sometimes, it depends,

and she goes into the school, picks the work up and brings it back home to me,

so I can just sit in the kitchen and just do the work.

It's OK for short-term basis,

but you need to get back into school,

because obviously it's not the same as having someone in front of you, like a teacher,

telling you what to do.

But with the stairs and corridors at school,

Josh now needs a full-time carer to get from class to class safely.

It's something his family simply can't afford.

It's important to get Josh back into school, and the one thing that's really stopping him is obviously

the physical barriers and physical support he needs being at school,

so I'm looking at ways to get money off the Government to provide that care.

Things are looking up for Josh.

After months of toing and froing, he finally gets some life-changing news.

The school have agreed to pay for a carer to help him get to his classes.

We've been in lots of different meetings and what's happened is the funding's come from the school.

So Josh can have a carer to get back to learning,

which he's excited about. He's really bright and missed out on a lot.

This is what we've hoped for and fought for.

It's actually nice to see him back with his school stuff on, back to school, meeting his friends,

getting an education that he needs to progress with his life and do the job he wants when he leaves school.

Josh's school have been really good and felt really supported.

So with us all working together, it's meant we can confidently get Josh

back into school as quick as possible but the paramount thing was his safety.

Josh going back to school is absolutely wonderful.

It's given me total peace of mind, knowing I can take him into school

and I can come home and not have to worry because he's in safe hands.

-Hello there! Welcome back!

-Yeah.

-A while.

-Hiya. What's it feel like?

-Weird.

-I think he's really nervous.

-It feels weird for everybody. Are you glad to be back?

-Mmm.

-Good. We're glad to have you back.

Russell Hall, a teaching assistant at the school,

will now make sure Josh gets from class to class safely.

Whenever Josh is in school, I'll be with him, help him around, make sure he gets to lessons.

When he's got hospital appointments and things like that,

I'll still go into the lessons, the core lessons,

English, maths, science, get the work, make any notes and take them back to Josh.

'It does feel good just to get back to school,

'because you get rid of the boredom and you see your friends again,'

which cheers you up.

To begin with, Josh will be part-time so he can get used to school more gradually.

Yeah, I do feel a lot more safer, and a lot more secure,

and it just makes a big difference.

He's going to have the next two years full of happiness, really,

even though he's going to have a awful lot of time in and out of hospital and everything,

but the plus side is we've got everything

in place for his education, and it's going to give him

the start he needs and he really does deserve in life.

He's shown a inner courage, an inner strength

to come back into school, as he has done today.

I see no reason why in 2012 he shouldn't collect

a good batch of GCSEs, going onto college and going onto university.

I feel fantastic for helping Josh out.

It made all the hard work and letters and phone calls so worthwhile.

'I think now I can concentrate more on my work, and get better grades.'

I would say it's a new start.

Josh has been dealt some pretty tough cards, but thanks to the help

and support of people like Serena, he's now going to get something that every kid deserves.

An education, and a childhood.

Now, from the saints who help those in real need, to the people who steal from the system.

Our scroungers in Essex.

Bob and Samantha Martin were under investigation

for swindling over £130,000 in benefits,

and after a lucky coincidence,

the council's fraud team were building a strong case against them.

The Martins painted this picture of living on the breadline and struggling to pay the rent.

But Epping Forest Council's investigators soon found this was far from the truth.

And incredibly, it turns out another member of the family was about to catch their attention as well.

At the same time as investigating the Martins,

we investigated somebody called Francesca Russell.

This was Samantha Martin's sister.

Francesca lived just down the road from Bob and Samantha Martin

in Buckhurst Hill, Essex.

She was claiming housing and council tax benefit

from Epping Forest District Council.

She claimed to live alone with her children in a property.

This is the housing benefit application form for Francesca Russell.

Where she clearly neglects to put a partner down on her form,

and indeed she ticks "no"

to the question "Do you have a partner who normally lives with you?"

Accompanying the form was a tenancy agreement that only showed Francesca Russell as the tenant.

If she had a partner that was working,

this would affect her benefit entitlement,

either reducing it or totally knocking her out of benefit.

But just like her sister Samantha,

the council soon discovered things were not how they appeared.

Officers obtained the original tenancy agreement from the same landlord,

detailing tenants as Mr Karl Russell

and Mrs Francesca Russell of the same address.

So the council were looking at a false document,

the tenancy agreement, but also a failure to declare that Mrs Russell

had her husband living with her.

So Francesca was also cheating the taxpayer.

Meanwhile, her sister Samantha and brother-in-law Bob continued to claim benefit.

In 2006, the house in Allnutts Road, where they claimed to be renting, was sold.

The couple moved to another house in Epping, apparently owned by the same Portuguese landlord.

They moved to a different rented house and continued to claim housing benefit

and council tax benefit, as well as income support at that property.

It did seem strange that the Martins moved from one property to another, within Epping,

and had the same landlord, and we thought, well, who is this landlord?

He lives in Portugal, but we've never seen him.

Whether they really were tenants with a Portuguese landlord, in the end it didn't matter.

The council already had enough financial evidence to make a case.

We thought we had enough to get Mr and Mrs Martin arrested.

The police could then search the property for further evidence,

and indeed, that happened in August 2007.

-You've got the wrong person!

-'I was there at the search.

'It was a very plush property, they were doing well for themselves.

'They weren't living on the breadline as they claimed to be.'

And they were far from amateurs. The Martins were highly organised scroungers.

Normally you find paperwork everywhere, all in drawers,

but the Martins had it in folders in a cabinet.

Folders that were marked benefits, mortgages, bank accounts, building society accounts.

Just as the fraud team had hoped, the search turned up even more

financial evidence against the Martins.

When we found the bank statements, we realised they hadn't been declared to us.

We approached the banks and obtained statements back to 2003,

when Mr and Mrs Martin initially claimed income support and housing benefit.

This is a Halifax bank statement that the council obtained,

following Mr and Mrs Martin's arrest.

It shows that on 1st February 2005, £44,000 was deposited into that account.

In July, £79,460 was deposited.

Over a matter of months, the Martins had

over £120,000 go through their account.

This meant they had more money than they had declared.

Further investigations into the Martin's finances

revealed that on 14th April 2003,

just after their claim for housing benefit,

£98,190 was deposited into Mr Martin's Bank of Ireland account.

This meant that from pretty much the outset of their claim,

they wouldn't have been entitled to housing benefit.

We had proof that they were committing offences right back to 2003.

That's just pretty disgusting really, you know, this was pure greed.

In fact, between 2003 and 2007,

a staggering £430,000 had gone through their accounts.

And all the time, these people were illegally claiming taxpayers' money,

in the form of housing and council tax benefits and income support.

Anyone who wants to claim housing benefit could only claim

if they had less than £16,000 in their bank at any one time.

On numerous occasions, the Martins had well in excess of that.

It's an offence not to declare that you have capital that exceeds £16,000.

It was time for the Martins to face some serious questions.

Mr Martin was very calm when he was arrested.

Mrs Martin was really upset, and, you know, very tearful.

He was interviewed for over an hour, and he didn't crack.

He made no comment at every question.

Samantha Martin declined to be interviewed, due to ill health,

but the council had enough evidence to go court.

And the game was up for Samantha Martin's sister Francesca too.

Over just four months, she had falsely claimed £7,000 in benefits.

The couple were arrested at their property in Buckhurst Hill.

The police searched the property and established that her husband had been living with her.

Francesca, who turned up at Chelmsford Crown Court to support her sister,

was found guilty of benefit fraud.

She was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work,

and was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

No charges were brought against her husband.

The Martins were charged with dishonestly claiming benefit

and concealing their true financial circumstances,

including their ownership of property.

The council also brought the prosecution for income support fraud

on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

In Mrs Martin's defence, it was argued Mr Martin had posed as his wife,

bought the property in Chingford and sold it without her knowledge.

She admitted she was aware of the bank accounts,

but claimed she didn't know that her husband had bought a property,

and then sold it, with the proceeds going through her account.

In the end, she admitted they were both involved

and they pleaded guilty to all charges put to them.

Samantha Martin was given a 12-month suspended sentence,

and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

It was revealed that Bob Martin had a previous conviction for fraud.

He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

Following this investigation, it was established

that the Martins were overpaid £130,000 housing benefit,

council tax benefit and income support.

That's the biggest ever fraud found in Epping Forest District Council's history.

Robert Martin got a longer sentence because he was the main architect of the fraud.

It has been very pleasing to bring both those prosecutions to successful conclusion.

What we have to hope is that anybody out there

who is currently committing a fraud sees what has happened,

and that is a significant deterrent.

Mistakes, stupidity or just plain greed.

It doesn't matter how clever cheats think they are,

sooner or later they will get caught.

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