0:00:02 > 0:00:05Millions of pounds' worth of our taxes should be going to the most needy.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08Trouble is, people keep stealing it.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Welcome to the world of Saints and Scroungers.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37'Saints and Scroungers puts the spotlight on benefit thieves
0:00:37 > 0:00:42'who ruthlessly steal millions of pounds every year from the British taxpayer.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47'And we search out the saints, those who are too proud to claim
0:00:47 > 0:00:50'and the people who get them the money they are entitled to.'
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Coming up in today's programme,
0:00:53 > 0:00:59the staggering £200,000 fraud that turned out to be an inside job.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03I'm looking out across all the staff in the office,
0:01:03 > 0:01:08knowing that one person out there was stealing money from us.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13'And we meet the young hero who needs help after losing his leg serving our country.'
0:01:13 > 0:01:18I'm petrified at this point, cos I'm thinking, "I've just been blown up,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21"I know I'm in a minefield, this day cannot get any worse."
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Every year, housing benefit fraud costs us, the British taxpayer,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30hundreds of millions of pounds.
0:01:30 > 0:01:36But luckily, councils have investigators and they're pretty good at spotting these fraudsters.
0:01:36 > 0:01:42But every now and again, a case lands on their desk which surprises even them.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45'Meet Badrul Islam.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48'He's 43, married with three children
0:01:48 > 0:01:51'and works for Newham Council.
0:01:53 > 0:01:59'In his time there, he has worked as a benefit fraud officer and a senior benefit officer.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04'In fact, after 13 years there, he's one of their most trusted employees.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09'So, why is he hiding his face and making a quick getaway?
0:02:11 > 0:02:16'Could it be because he's at the centre of a £200,000 fraud investigation?'
0:02:19 > 0:02:22This case was very shocking, very surprising.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25It wasn't something I had any experience of dealing with.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29'This fraud would shake Newham Council to the core.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32'Not just because it was a six-figure scam,
0:02:32 > 0:02:35'but because this case was an inside job.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42'Internal investigations are very sensitive
0:02:42 > 0:02:46'because of the risk of wrongly accusing a colleague or tipping off the fraudster.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52'Counter Fraud Manager Emma Vick was in charge of the case.'
0:02:52 > 0:02:55I just was told that the benefits manager had a suspicion that a member of staff
0:02:55 > 0:02:59was involved in something he shouldn't have been and could I deal with it?
0:03:01 > 0:03:04They'd done an audit and as a result,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07they'd found some suspicious large payments. That's when I got involved.
0:03:09 > 0:03:16'The housing benefit team had found something fishy when they ran some routine checks on lump-sum payments.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20There was some unusual payments being made.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22In one particular payment,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26we couldn't find any reasonable explanation
0:03:26 > 0:03:28for why the payment had occurred.
0:03:28 > 0:03:34Suddenly, there was a large payment of over £13,000 to a landlord.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38So we went to the manager of the service
0:03:38 > 0:03:42and we asked him for his expert advice about how this had arisen.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I had these two mysterious payments, didn't know where they'd come from,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52how they'd occurred. A couple of times it had crossed my mind
0:03:52 > 0:03:55that someone was defrauding us.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59But it crosses your mind and then you sort of dismiss it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:06'Housing benefit is a lifeline for people who would otherwise have no way of paying the rent.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11'It can be paid to the tenant, landlord or letting agent.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16'A back payment is unusual because it happens when there has been a change of circumstances,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19'like the rent going up.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24'The higher rate of benefit is backdated and paid out in a lump sum.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26'It was a lump-sum payment that began this case.'
0:04:26 > 0:04:29These particular instances were very, very unusual
0:04:29 > 0:04:34- because the last transaction on the account was several years before. - So at that point,
0:04:34 > 0:04:40- you realised there's a rat in the kitchen.- Yes, potentially, we've got an employee that's committing fraud.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46I remember standing there in my office and looking out
0:04:46 > 0:04:51across all the staff in the office knowing that one person out there was stealing money from us.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02'While the IT department were tracing the log-in details for whoever had made the payments,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05'David trawled through the records himself.'
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Although the person had taken quite a lot of care to cover their tracks,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14as often happens, a mistake had been made
0:05:14 > 0:05:19so the person had, just one time, forgotten to do something
0:05:19 > 0:05:22that meant that their name actually appeared,
0:05:22 > 0:05:27so on the screen, I could suddenly see who'd carried out that transaction and I knew it was Badrul.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30It was a heartbreaking discovery.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35Badrul Islam was a trusted colleague and well-known in the council.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40As soon as you realise this sort of thing is going on, it's a real shock.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Emma, how did you know Badrul Islam?
0:05:43 > 0:05:48I knew Badrul because he was a benefits officer. He worked for part of Newham benefit service.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52He was also well spoken, well turned out, he knew a lot of people,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56a lot of people turned to him for advice because he'd worked here a long time, he was a family man,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00- early 40s. - Would you ever now, with hindsight,
0:06:00 > 0:06:06- ever, ever have suspected him of being a benefit cheat?- No. There was nothing to indicate that.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13The first payment that was identified as a result of the audit was just over £5,000.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18As a result of that being identified, the rest were then looked at
0:06:18 > 0:06:21and we found the total to be just over £71,000.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26'This really is no ordinary fraud.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30'An insider job to the tune of 70 grand.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32'So, what was Badrul doing?'
0:06:34 > 0:06:40He was taking old cases, cases that we'd paid housing benefit on several years ago, tenant had moved out.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45He was going back to those old computer records...
0:06:47 > 0:06:49..and he was increasing the rent on them.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55If the rent was £150 a week, Badrul would go in
0:06:55 > 0:06:59and for a period, a year, say, he would increase the rent to £250 a week.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Simply by doing that, he would create a payment
0:07:04 > 0:07:07of £5,000 that he would then send
0:07:07 > 0:07:09to the landlord on the case.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14What we were looking at was the trail that showed that
0:07:14 > 0:07:16it was his user ID that was responsible for
0:07:16 > 0:07:19doing the transaction that caused the payment.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25'So that's how he got the money out.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27'But it had to be paid into a bank account,
0:07:27 > 0:07:31'so Badrul needed an accomplice.'
0:07:31 > 0:07:35We could see that the money was going to a company called Eurobangla, a local letting agent
0:07:35 > 0:07:38owned by a gentleman called Mr Moin Uddin Ahmed.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43'Eurobangla was the missing link.
0:07:43 > 0:07:49'Badrul was generating the payments and his partner in crime, Moin Uddin Ahmed, was receiving them.
0:07:52 > 0:07:58'The team suspect that once the money goes to Eurobangla, Badrul gets a share of it.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02'It's a clever fraud, but the net is closing in on Badrul.'
0:08:04 > 0:08:10For a fraud investigation team, nothing could be worse than finding out someone they knew and trusted
0:08:10 > 0:08:13had been deceiving them right underneath their very noses.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16But this team weren't about to let Badrul Islam off the hook.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21This was a very serious crime. £71,000 is a lot of money,
0:08:21 > 0:08:27so we decided very early on that we would have Mr Islam arrested and take the case in that direction.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Badrul Islam, at this point, didn't have a clue that you knew about him.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37No, not a clue. He was at work, the same as he was any other day.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42We'd made sure he was going to be in the office and we'd been tipped off that he was there.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47About ten o'clock in the morning, we arrived.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53We attended with a detective constable from Scotland Yard and also two uniformed police officers.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56And I was asked to bring Badrul down.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01So I speak to Badrul, said I'd like to go outside.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04I remember he said to me, "Have you started smoking again?"
0:09:06 > 0:09:07And he picked his coat up,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10cos he thought we were going outside for a cigarette.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15When they got to the front of the building, we went into an office.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17I identified myself
0:09:17 > 0:09:21and explained who I was and then I introduced the detective constable
0:09:21 > 0:09:23to Mr Islam.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26The blood literally drained from Badrul's face
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and he just looked like his whole world had collapsed on him.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32And if I had any doubts that he was guilty,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35just his reaction at that moment just said
0:09:35 > 0:09:39- he's definitely done this. - He just stood there in front of us,
0:09:39 > 0:09:44answered his name when he was asked his name and just looked like a very lonely man.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48'Badrul was taken to Forest Gate Police Station.
0:09:48 > 0:09:53'It was a dramatic morning, but at the station, there's more drama to come.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59'Coming up, a search of Badrul's pockets
0:09:59 > 0:10:03'reveals a piece of paper that blows the whole investigation wide open.'
0:10:04 > 0:10:07I was concerned that this was getting bigger and bigger.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11It started off as quite a serious case and now we were moving into
0:10:11 > 0:10:15the realms of something that I've not dealt with before.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25'Next, it's farewell fraudsters, and time to meet our saints.
0:10:25 > 0:10:30'The thousands of people who don't know how or are too proud to ask for benefits.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35'And the people who help them get what they're entitled to. Our saints.'
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Soldiers and their families know that when they go to war,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46there's always a chance they might not come home alive.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50What few people realise is that many of those who do survive
0:10:50 > 0:10:55come back with injuries so serious it can take them years to adapt to their disability.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58And to do that takes an awful lot of support.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05'Lance Corporal Jonathan Lee, or Jono to his friends, is a survivor.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11'He served in some of the most hostile territories in the world.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15'He was sent to Iraq twice and he served in Afghanistan.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21'But when he was just 24, a roadside bomb changed his life forever.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25'It detonated right underneath his vehicle
0:11:25 > 0:11:28'and he was blown through the air.'
0:11:28 > 0:11:32I'm head-first in the desert, flipped over, landed on my back.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36I thought, "I'm going to die now," closed my eyes, went unconscious for a few seconds.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41'Jono's leg was shattered. He needed urgent medical attention.'
0:11:42 > 0:11:46I started dragging myself back to my vehicle, in a lot of pain.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50And my mate screamed, "Stop! What you doing?"
0:11:50 > 0:11:56There was a landmine about that far away from my head. He said, "Stop, I think you're in a minefield."
0:11:56 > 0:12:02I'm petrified cos I'm thinking, "I've been blown up and I'm in a minefield. This day cannot get any worse."
0:12:02 > 0:12:09I just heard on the radio, "If we don't get a medic to him now, I think this guy's going to die."
0:12:09 > 0:12:11'With Jono's life hanging in the balance,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15'they managed to evacuate him to the field hospital at Camp Bastion.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21'Jono had escaped with his life,
0:12:21 > 0:12:26'but at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, there was some bad news in store.'
0:12:26 > 0:12:32The surgeon came in, he sat down and he said, "I've got to have a chat with you." I'm like, "Yeah, OK."
0:12:32 > 0:12:37He says, "We could do operations for 12 months and we might be able to save the leg,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40"but I'm not sure we are going to be able to do it."
0:12:41 > 0:12:44'Jono had to make one of the hardest decisions of his life.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49'And three days later, he went into surgery to have his leg amputated.'
0:12:49 > 0:12:52I woke up in the worst pain in the world.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Nobody could understand how much pain I was in. I need something now.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03And the next day, I was in my wheelchair, spinning about.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08Everybody was like, "You only lost your leg yesterday, be careful." I'm doing wheelies.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15Three weeks later, I'm walking, and it's like, "Wow, I lost a leg and I'm walking!"
0:13:15 > 0:13:20'Whilst he was struggling with adjusting to his new life,
0:13:20 > 0:13:22'Jono also had to think about finances.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25'Amputees who have lost limbs in service
0:13:25 > 0:13:28'are entitled to apply for army compensation
0:13:28 > 0:13:31'and may be entitled to a disability living allowance.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33'A blue badge can help with parking.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37'Servicemen and women going to the front line are also strongly encouraged
0:13:37 > 0:13:42'to take out private military insurance, something Jono did.'
0:13:42 > 0:13:46I got £150,000. That was within 24 hours of losing my leg.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48'That might sound like a small fortune,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51'but for an amputee, it doesn't go far.'
0:13:51 > 0:13:54I've got to buy a house. That's half of it gone.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58I've never lived in a house before, so I've got to kit the house out. Gone.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02And I've got to make it disabled friendly.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04There you go. That's another lot gone.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08I need a car cos I can't walk around as much. That's another lot gone.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Three years later, you've got no money left.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19'Jono's story is a familiar one to Charlie Streether.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25'He's a welfare officer for the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association, or BLESMA.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30'The charity was set up to help people in the forces who have lost limbs.
0:14:30 > 0:14:36Things weren't quite in synch with what I could see of his injuries
0:14:36 > 0:14:40to what had been applied for for his armed forces compensation scheme.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44He said to me, "Your army compensation, have you done the form?"
0:14:44 > 0:14:48"Yes, I've received a little bit of money off them, but it wasn't what I was expecting."
0:14:48 > 0:14:51He said, "How much have you received?" So I told him
0:14:51 > 0:14:54and he said, "That can't be right."
0:14:54 > 0:14:58"Well, I filled the form in and sent it off." "Let me have a look at the form."
0:14:58 > 0:15:05"Right, something hasn't happened here." He rung them up, he's doing all this, form after form after form.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11'They had an agonising wait to find out if Jono would get the money he needed.'
0:15:11 > 0:15:17So Charlie went away and within a few months of Charlie getting involved, that army sum got doubled.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21If it wasn't for Charlie and BLESMA's involvement, I wouldn't have a house
0:15:21 > 0:15:24anywhere near what I've got now.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28And everything in it is from that army money, so if it wasn't for BLESMA and Charlie,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30I wouldn't be able to afford it.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37'It's a result that will have a positive impact on the rest of Jono's life.
0:15:37 > 0:15:43'But Charlie's done so much more. He's helped Jono get the right level of disability living allowance,
0:15:43 > 0:15:48'spoken to Motability about ensuring that he had access to a free car
0:15:48 > 0:15:52'and even taking up the fight to get Jono a blue badge for parking.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01'All in all, Charlie's made a massive difference to Jono's life.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07'Today, our heroes are meeting up with some fellow amputees.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11'They're doing some indoor skydiving, a challenge even for the able-bodied.'
0:16:11 > 0:16:16The army and me have got together and we've approached the social services in Nottingham
0:16:16 > 0:16:21and I'm doing work experience with them for two months, becoming a social worker.
0:16:24 > 0:16:31And I want to do as much as I can to help people in my local area and extend it onwards.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35If it wasn't for BLESMA, I don't think I'd be the person I am today.
0:16:36 > 0:16:42'Jono, Charlie and BLESMA's mission to give something back to others is an inspiration to us all.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44'They're heroes as well as saints.'
0:16:53 > 0:16:58'Badrul Islam was a senior benefit officer for Newham Council.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02'He's worked there for 13 years, but for the past year and a half,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05'he's been authorising fake housing benefits
0:17:05 > 0:17:07'worth more than £70,000.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11'The recipient is a letting agent, Moin Uddin Ahmed,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15'who works for a company called Eurobangla.'
0:17:15 > 0:17:18The department was shocked to discover they had an in-house fraudster.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22But things were about to get a whole lot more complex.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29'Badrul had been arrested and taken to Forest Gate Police Station.'
0:17:29 > 0:17:33It's normal practice, when you get booked in, all your pockets are looked through.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40In his inside pocket of his jacket, there was a print-out
0:17:40 > 0:17:44from the benefits system that detailed particular payments
0:17:44 > 0:17:48to another landlord, a company called Elite Property Services.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53'Dulal Haque runs Elite Property Services,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56'the company named on Badrul's piece of paper.
0:17:59 > 0:18:05'After discovering the print-out, the team hold off interviewing Badrul.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09'Because they need to know if Haque has been receiving any bogus payments.'
0:18:11 > 0:18:13This is the second company now.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15So we phoned the benefits manager
0:18:15 > 0:18:19and we then asked him to go back and check all the transactions
0:18:19 > 0:18:22that Badrul's user ID may have done in relation to that company.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25And then we sat around and waited.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29- We got the phone call back saying, yes, he's done exactly the same. - How much?
0:18:29 > 0:18:32It was looking to be £125,000.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35- So we're talking about just under 200 grand in total.- Yeah.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41'What a bombshell. Not only is this an inside job,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45'but it's now a fraud in the region of £200,000.'
0:18:45 > 0:18:48Can you remember how you felt when you heard that figure?
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Stunned. I just felt drained.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55You can feel that feeling of dread that goes through you and you think, "Oh, my God."
0:18:55 > 0:18:57'Meanwhile, the investigators
0:18:57 > 0:19:00'are still holding off interviewing Badrul.'
0:19:00 > 0:19:03We were now concerned that there may be others involved
0:19:03 > 0:19:05and we arranged for the police officer
0:19:05 > 0:19:07to go and search Mr Islam's home address
0:19:07 > 0:19:09to see if there were any further documents
0:19:09 > 0:19:12that may lead us to further landlords.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19Mr Islam's wife was present with a small baby and, obviously, she found that quite shocking
0:19:19 > 0:19:24because, at that point, she thought her husband was at work. She didn't realise he had been arrested.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29'The house search didn't unearth any more landlords,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31'but it wasn't in vain.'
0:19:31 > 0:19:35We found various bank accounts that we didn't know he had
0:19:35 > 0:19:40that showed that he appeared to be in a bit of debt. He didn't have an awful lot of money.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46'The bank statements also reveal some mysterious payments.'
0:19:46 > 0:19:52We have a Nationwide account that shows lots of cash transactions, lots of cash payments being received
0:19:52 > 0:19:57into that account, in particular, in September '06, £300,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59and then in October '06, £200.
0:19:59 > 0:20:08And this pattern follows all the way through. A cash credit there in October '06 of £1,620,
0:20:08 > 0:20:12which is probably not that much different from what his wages would've been at that time,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16so there's no way that has come from his legitimate income.
0:20:22 > 0:20:23'It's hard to trace cash,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26'so although the team suspect Ahmed and Haque
0:20:26 > 0:20:31'are giving Badrul Islam a share of the money, they can't prove it.'
0:20:34 > 0:20:37'Badrul has been sitting in the police station all day.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42'But finally, at quarter to ten at night, they interview him.'
0:20:42 > 0:20:45- Have you had any dealings with that company?- No comment.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50He didn't say anything. He said "no comment" to all the questions. He answered his name, address,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53date of birth, but apart from that, no comment.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01'It's the end of a long day. They've arrested Badrul, searched his house and his desk,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05'discovered the fraud is now in the region of £200,000
0:21:05 > 0:21:07'and found two other accomplices.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10'But the case is far from over.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15'To move the investigation on, the team now need to do some digging
0:21:15 > 0:21:20'into the two letting agents who were at the receiving end of Badrul's fraudulent payments.'
0:21:23 > 0:21:28- Tell me about Eurobangla and Elite. What happened with them?- We decided to call them in for interviews
0:21:28 > 0:21:34under caution. And they both cooperated throughout. They came for two interviews each,
0:21:34 > 0:21:39turned up each time and both had a version of events very consistent with each other.
0:21:43 > 0:21:44'The team needed to prove
0:21:44 > 0:21:47'that Badrul was working in cahoots with Haque and Ahmed.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51'So they asked them to explain how they knew him.'
0:22:18 > 0:22:20- What did Badrul say about them? - Exactly the same.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23- No comment? - Well, in further interviews,
0:22:23 > 0:22:28he said he knew them because they would've come in, they were just landlords.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31'They asked Haque and Ahmed to explain the massive payments
0:22:31 > 0:22:34that had suddenly appeared in their accounts.'
0:22:51 > 0:22:56- Is that excuse feasible? - No. They would've received letters saying what the payments were for,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59the dates, they knew they weren't entitled to them.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04- So they're all denying any conspiracy to defraud the system. - Yep.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06- All the way through. - Did that worry you?
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Not really, because we were gathering together quite a lot of documentary evidence
0:23:10 > 0:23:15including phone records that showed they'd been in touch with each other and we were confident.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21'Although Badrul, Haque and Ahmed claim they've only met a few times,
0:23:21 > 0:23:26'Emma and her team are pulling in everything they can to show that the suspected fraudsters
0:23:26 > 0:23:29'know each other better than they're letting on.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34'And a diary found of Badrul's desk at work provides a breakthrough.'
0:23:35 > 0:23:39We went through it several times looking for anything that might be of interest.
0:23:39 > 0:23:43On the page that's highlighted with an N, there's a mobile telephone number
0:23:43 > 0:23:47that we know to be the mobile number of Mr Ahmed, the owner of Eurobangla.
0:23:47 > 0:23:52Written above it is something in a language that we now know to be Bengali,
0:23:52 > 0:23:57so we had that translated to see what it said. That says, "Brother Ahmed"
0:23:57 > 0:24:03and in the Bengali language, that is a term of affection. It shows a very close relationship between them.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08'Finding the diary entry is a eureka moment
0:24:08 > 0:24:13'because it means Badrul and Ahmed have a much closer relationship than they're letting on.
0:24:14 > 0:24:20'But the team manage to top it when they get hold of phone records for Badrul and the two letting agents.'
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Each one of these tabs represents a phone call. The different colours indicate
0:24:24 > 0:24:30where it would be a phone call between Badrul Islam and Moin Ahmed or Badrul Islam and Dulal Haque.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34We tabled all of this and we presented that as part of our evidence
0:24:34 > 0:24:37to show that there was a personal relationship between them
0:24:37 > 0:24:40and to show that the dates that the phone calls happened
0:24:40 > 0:24:44was quite often just before or after one of the transactions had been sent to a landlord.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50'Now the team have a watertight case.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53'The three swindlers denied knowing each other,
0:24:53 > 0:24:54'but these phone records
0:24:54 > 0:24:58'make them look like they've all been on speed dial.'
0:24:58 > 0:25:01Once they knew about this, how much of a shock did it come to them?
0:25:01 > 0:25:06One by one, that was when they started to change their pleas to guilty. It made them realise
0:25:06 > 0:25:11that we were being serious and we weren't going to go away and we were gathering more and more evidence.
0:25:11 > 0:25:17- And their pleas of innocence would fall on a judge's deaf ears. - Yeah.- Because that in itself...
0:25:17 > 0:25:22This completely blew out of the water their, "We've only spoken to each other one or two times
0:25:22 > 0:25:24"in a work environment."
0:25:28 > 0:25:32'In June 2010, before his court appearance,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34'Badrul Islam changed his plea to guilty.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39'Haque and Ahmed followed suit.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43'On 5th August, 2010,
0:25:43 > 0:25:48'they all turned up to Inner London Crown Court to hear their sentence.'
0:25:49 > 0:25:54Today we're here for the sentencing of Badrul Islam, Dulal Haque and Moin Ahmed.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00I'm hopeful that justice will be done and we'll get custodial sentences in relation to all three.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07'And Emma's hopes were granted.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11'The judge heard how Badrul, with the help of his two co-conspirators,
0:26:11 > 0:26:19'had swindled the Newham taxpayers out of...
0:26:19 > 0:26:21'And his sentence reflected this.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26'Dulal Haque of Elite Letting Agents was given 12 months in jail.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Moin Uddin Ahmed got 14 months.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And Badrul Islam, the man on the inside,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36was sentenced to two years and four months in prison.
0:26:39 > 0:26:44I knew Badrul for a long time and I'm quite well aware of the devastating effect
0:26:44 > 0:26:48this has had on his life, so I don't take any personal pleasure in it,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51but it's just completely unacceptable that people can even think
0:26:51 > 0:26:57that they can take money that doesn't belong to them. So I think justice has been done.
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