0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme tracks down thieves, exposes fraudsters
0:00:04 > 0:00:07and brings help to those who really deserve it.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11This is the front line in the battle against benefit fraud.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15This is Saints And Scroungers.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40Saints And Scroungers is all about busting benefit thieves
0:00:40 > 0:00:42who steal millions every year,
0:00:42 > 0:00:44and the crack team of investigators
0:00:44 > 0:00:47determined to scupper their devious scams.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51And we also shine a light on those who genuinely need the money,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54and the people who help them get it. They are our saints.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58The saints get help, and the fraudsters get their comeuppance.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02And coming up on today's programme...
0:01:02 > 0:01:05the businesswoman who pleaded poverty but conned the taxpayer
0:01:05 > 0:01:08out of almost £50,000.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11She's running a business, and declaring to a mortgage company
0:01:11 > 0:01:15that she's got an income of £44,000 per annum.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20And a four-legged friend gives an MS sufferer new hope.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Having a dog with me, to be able to pick things up
0:01:25 > 0:01:28and help me open doors, would be wonderful.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36But first, meet Tinuola Oginni.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38She claimed to be penniless,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42but she owned property and ran her own high-street business.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45Over four years, she was suspected of stealing almost £50,000
0:01:45 > 0:01:48in housing benefit, council-tax benefit
0:01:48 > 0:01:50and income support.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57Running a business is tough, especially in fashion,
0:01:57 > 0:01:59where you need more than raw talent to survive.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02You need to get out there, shout about what you're doing,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06publicise your company. So it's probably not the best career choice
0:02:06 > 0:02:09if you've got something to hide.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Three Rivers Council in Hertfordshire
0:02:14 > 0:02:17began its investigation on Tinuola Oginni
0:02:17 > 0:02:19following a tip-off from a neighbouring authority.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22We originally received some information
0:02:22 > 0:02:26from London borough of Harrow in 2007.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30They suspected that Tinuola Oginni,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33who resided within the Three Rivers District Council area,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37was receiving benefit incorrectly.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Oginni was claiming housing benefit, council-tax benefit,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43and income support.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45The information that we received was alleging
0:02:45 > 0:02:48that Oginni ran a business in Edgware, North London,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52and that business, we believed,
0:02:52 > 0:02:55dealt with the import/export of clothing.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00Obviously it was important that we knew the true extent
0:03:00 > 0:03:05of Oginni's assets, because if somebody has capital over 16,000,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07they wouldn't be eligible for benefit.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11The investigation team started by checking their files
0:03:11 > 0:03:15in order to work out just how much benefit she had claimed from them.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19We've got a claim form from Oginni,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22purporting to be a single mother
0:03:22 > 0:03:25living in privately rented accommodation
0:03:25 > 0:03:29with no employment, and in receipt of income support.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34Now, this was received in October of '03.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38We then lead on to the next claim form
0:03:38 > 0:03:42that was received in February 2005,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44and again, it's the same details entered
0:03:44 > 0:03:48for Miss Oginni living in the property on her own.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52She's again not declared any employment,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55no earnings whatsoever, no other income,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59and no bank accounts declared.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02If she was working and she didn't declare it on the forms,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05then, she was committing an offence.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09But, looking at her other claims, she had declared the same in 2006
0:04:09 > 0:04:11and 2007.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Exactly the same details again -
0:04:14 > 0:04:17single mother in a property, no income,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21living on income support in privately rented accommodation.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26Her address was given as Ballater Close in South Oxhey, Hertfordshire.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29It certainly wouldn't be unusual to receive a claim.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33It would be quite consistent with what we'd expect from that area
0:04:33 > 0:04:37of high pockets of some deprivation,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39but certainly a lot of benefit claims.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45On the face of it, it looked like a normal claim,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47and investigators didn't think they had much to go on.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50But then the case took a new twist.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Out of the blue, Oginni wrote to the council.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Her letter was passed to a senior member of the fraud team.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Because of the sensitive nature of his work,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02he has to remain anonymous.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Tinuola Oginni was claiming housing benefit
0:05:05 > 0:05:08at the rented address in Ballater Close,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11and she'd listed the landlord as living at an address
0:05:11 > 0:05:15in Northwick Road. The handwritten letter that she'd submitted
0:05:15 > 0:05:18to the housing-benefits department indicated she was moving
0:05:18 > 0:05:22from the rented address to the same address the landlady was shown at,
0:05:22 > 0:05:27so it seemed extremely odd that she was now moving to the same address
0:05:27 > 0:05:31where her landlady was living. So I thought there was good reason
0:05:31 > 0:05:35to do more stringent checks on the landlady in the new address.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Now this case had gone from being about an undeclared business
0:05:38 > 0:05:40to something more complex.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44To find out who owned the property Oginni claimed she was renting,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47investigators did some digging at the Land Registry.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51That actually identified Tinuola Oginni
0:05:51 > 0:05:53as the owner of Northwick Road,
0:05:53 > 0:05:57and that was a property that was shown on the Registry document
0:05:57 > 0:05:59as being purchased in 2003
0:05:59 > 0:06:01for £200,000.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06That showed us that Tinuola Oginni had lied
0:06:06 > 0:06:07on several of the claim forms,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11because she hadn't disclosed the ownership of any property.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14She'd simply claimed that she was on a limited income
0:06:14 > 0:06:16with no capital or business assets.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21You don't buy a property and forget it, while making a claim for benefit
0:06:21 > 0:06:24on another address, alleging you've got nowhere to live
0:06:24 > 0:06:26and you're in rented accommodation.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29It was an unexpected breakthrough,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32because it's quite clear that she'd owned this property
0:06:32 > 0:06:35for a number of years, and hadn't told the council.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40Incredible! So Oginni had owned a property since 2003,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43but she'd kept it quiet, and all the time she was claiming benefits.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Now the investigators turned their attention
0:06:47 > 0:06:49to her fashion business.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52The original tip-off from Harrow fraud office
0:06:52 > 0:06:55indicated her connection to Tee Fashions.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59I started to make further enquiries into the business link
0:06:59 > 0:07:03to Tinuola Oginni, and my first port of call was Companies House.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Companies House holds the business accounts
0:07:06 > 0:07:10and the details of the owners of all limited companies in the UK.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13But this search threw up a new name.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17Companies House came back with the name Tinuola Sijuwade
0:07:17 > 0:07:19as being the company secretary of Tee Fashion.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22Luckily it didn't fool the fraud team.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Harrow fraud office had previously provided the name Sijuwade
0:07:25 > 0:07:30as a result of their enquiries, this was Tinuola Oginni's married name,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33and also the date of birth for Tinuola Sijuwade
0:07:33 > 0:07:36was the same as that of Tinuola Oginni.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40But using two names didn't pull the wool over the investigators' eyes.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43The use of the two names for the same person
0:07:43 > 0:07:47is quite common in terms of benefit-fraud offences.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50It was quite alarming to know that she was claiming
0:07:50 > 0:07:53as a single person with no assets whatsoever,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57and here we had a lady who clearly was linked to a business
0:07:57 > 0:08:02that was trading, and also ownership of one property.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06Hang on a mo! This lady owns a £200,000 house
0:08:06 > 0:08:08and runs a high-street fashion business?
0:08:08 > 0:08:11She doesn't sound like the sort of person
0:08:11 > 0:08:15who should be claiming housing and council-tax benefit to me!
0:08:15 > 0:08:19And she was claiming another benefit she didn't seem entitled to.
0:08:19 > 0:08:21She was in receipt of national benefits,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23in this particular case income support
0:08:23 > 0:08:26from the Department for Work and Pensions.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Under normal investigation conditions,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32we notify the DWP's fraud-investigation department
0:08:32 > 0:08:35so that they can do their respective checks.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39This was now a multi-agency investigation.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Intelligence already gathered suggested Oginni
0:08:46 > 0:08:48had a history of moving properties,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51and they needed to keep an eye on her.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54This is the property that Oginni was living in with her family,
0:08:54 > 0:08:58and we came down here initially to see whether it was suitable
0:08:58 > 0:09:00for carrying out surveillance.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05Er, it's a standard semi-detached house with a rear garden.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08There's no rear access to the property,
0:09:08 > 0:09:13so any surveillance would have had to be from the local vicinity,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16including this road where we're parked now.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18But it wasn't considered suitable
0:09:18 > 0:09:21because of the street-lighting,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24and in periods that we would have wanted to do the surveillance,
0:09:24 > 0:09:28it was completely parked up. Also the people around here
0:09:28 > 0:09:31are very surveillance-aware,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and that was one of the reasons that we discounted surveillance
0:09:34 > 0:09:37as a means of obtaining any further evidence.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40But they were keen to establish exactly what was going on,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43and what sort of additional evidence they could gather.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47On the initial drive-past, we noticed a lot of activity.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50On later drive-pasts, there was no activity.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55And we then started making enquiries about the property itself,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58and we were told by some informants
0:09:58 > 0:10:02that the people had actually moved out of the property.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07I made some local enquiries, and I found out that the property
0:10:07 > 0:10:09was on the market with a local estate agent.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13I went down to the estate agent to have a chat with him,
0:10:13 > 0:10:16and he told me, confirmed my suspicions,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20that Tinuola Oginni had been living at that property with her family,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23and that they had put the property on the market,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27and that her whereabouts were potentially unknown.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33With the house up for sale, it looked as if they might have reached a dead end.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Oginni seemed to have slipped through the net.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38But investigators don't give up easily.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42Gary went after another lead - the fashion business.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47It was a business premises right in the middle of the Broadway.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50It had the shutters down, but the sign was still up.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52It was still Tee Fashions.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55It was looking like Oginni had vanished.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59What I did do, there's a pharmacy next door to the shop,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01and I spoke to the assistant there
0:11:01 > 0:11:04to see if he could give me any information
0:11:04 > 0:11:06on who ran the shop or where Oginni might have gone.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10He might have had a forwarding address, a mobile number for her.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13But other than confirming what we could already see,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16he wasn't able to provide any information.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22The council's investigation had hit another brick wall.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26We're now in a situation where we know that she's not at the house,
0:11:26 > 0:11:30she's not at the business, so where has she gone?
0:11:30 > 0:11:32That was the question. Where is she?
0:11:32 > 0:11:34And that's what we needed to find out,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37because to not trace her was not an option.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43Later in the programme,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46the team uncover more of Oginni's lies.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49It brought up an address in Harrow
0:11:49 > 0:11:51which was purchased by Tinuola Oginni.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54But will they track her down and bring her to justice?
0:11:58 > 0:12:01From the scroungers stealing from the benefits system,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05and you, the taxpayer, to the people we call our saints -
0:12:05 > 0:12:08individuals and organisations up and down the country
0:12:08 > 0:12:11that go out of their way to offer help
0:12:11 > 0:12:13to those in genuine need.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Sometimes it's the simplest things in life that we take for granted -
0:12:20 > 0:12:23you know, like opening a door or turning on a light switch.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25But just imagine what life would be like
0:12:25 > 0:12:29if suddenly you weren't able to do those things. How would you cope,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and who would you turn to for help?
0:12:32 > 0:12:3725 years ago, Janet Pearsons was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44I noticed a strange sensation in my legs as I was swimming,
0:12:44 > 0:12:47and I thought, "That's strange. My legs aren't going
0:12:47 > 0:12:50where they need to go." I was almost dragging them behind me.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54And I began to have severe pins and needles in my hands,
0:12:54 > 0:13:00and obviously went to see a doctor and then a consultant,
0:13:00 > 0:13:03and I was diagnosed with MS.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05As Janet's condition worsened,
0:13:05 > 0:13:09it meant paying out for expensive adaptations to their home.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12We had to have an extension done to the house
0:13:12 > 0:13:15to make it easier for Janet to move about,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19to gain access in and out of the front and the back of the house.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21This is when I drop it on the floor.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27- Janet relies on three visits a day from a carer.- Hello, Liz!
0:13:27 > 0:13:30This is paid for by Suffolk County Council
0:13:30 > 0:13:32through a system of direct payments.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Anybody, from a small child to a very elderly person,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40if they're eligible to get care from social-care services,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43then, they can say, "I would like to have that care instead
0:13:43 > 0:13:46as a direct payment," which means they can get the money,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49and organise the care themselves.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52Although carers come to help Janet with daily practicalities
0:13:52 > 0:13:56like making meals, most of the time she's still on her own,
0:13:56 > 0:13:58and life can be difficult.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02Give me an idea of some of the problems you're having
0:14:02 > 0:14:05with, one, being almost housebound,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09and secondly, when you do venture out, you're accompanied by a chair.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12I feel quite lonely going out on my own.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14There doesn't seem a great purpose to going out.
0:14:14 > 0:14:19Um, I do have difficulties sometimes just getting out of the house.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23I sometimes drop my keys in full view of a busy road,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and it makes me very vulnerable, because, you know,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30it's difficult to ask just anybody to help you pick up a set of keys
0:14:30 > 0:14:34to your home. But having a dog would encourage me to go out more,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38and have a reason to go out, have a purpose to go out.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Canine Partners was set up 20 years ago
0:14:43 > 0:14:46to provide assistance dogs for people with disabilities.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Each dog receives £20,000 worth of training
0:14:49 > 0:14:51before being placed in a home.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54The charity relies entirely on donations.
0:14:54 > 0:14:58The dogs are trained essentially as carers
0:14:58 > 0:15:01for people who have mobility problems,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04who have all sorts of complex disabilities,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07and the dogs act as carers, performing tasks for them
0:15:07 > 0:15:09that they couldn't do themselves.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13Wendy Ireland knows what a difference these canine carers can make.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17She can unload the washing machine. She opens doors.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21She picks things up. She gets me the telephone.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25And it's not just around the home that Mia has changed Wendy's life.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29'One of the fantastic things is that she gets things off of shelves
0:15:29 > 0:15:32'for me in shops and pays for shopping.'
0:15:32 > 0:15:37Up on the table. Good girl! Good girl! Oh, got it?
0:15:37 > 0:15:40Canine Partners covers the cost of training the dogs,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42but, as they explained to Janet,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45once she brings her assistance dog home,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49she must pay for everything, from dog food to vets' bills.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52I've done a few calculations myself,
0:15:52 > 0:15:56um, to work out how much a dog would cost,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59with insurance and food and...
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Canine Partners require you to make sure
0:16:02 > 0:16:05the dog is always kept in excellent health,
0:16:05 > 0:16:10so there have to be regular six-monthly checks with a vet,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14and the cost of all that in a year
0:16:14 > 0:16:16would be about £1,500.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19She'd done a lot of research into this,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22and worked out a figure she thought was going to be manageable.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27We agreed that it seemed a very good use of a direct payment,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30and that we could increase her payments to facilitate that.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35Suffolk Council agreed that it would pay £1,200 a year
0:16:35 > 0:16:39towards Janet's £1,500 worth of dog expenses.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Now all she needed was a dog, and at last the charity had found one.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Janet was invited to their headquarters to meet Nikita.
0:16:48 > 0:16:53It was her gentleness and her affectionate, slightly shy nature
0:16:53 > 0:16:57that really seemed to fit quite well with Janet.
0:16:57 > 0:17:02We have trained Nikita for Janet's specific requirements.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06She has trouble with her hands, so she's going to need Nikita
0:17:06 > 0:17:09to do a lot of picking up of dropped items,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12opening cupboard doors, opening her front door,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15shutting doors... The dogs will also shut doors.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Nikita, leave. Sit.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Janet has to complete a two-week residential course
0:17:21 > 0:17:24to learn how to look after Nikita and practise her commands
0:17:24 > 0:17:27before taking her home.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30One of the problems Janet found is that, if she'd gone out
0:17:30 > 0:17:33and she was wearing a coat, when she comes back,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36she has to sit in her coat until her carer comes at the moment.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39With Nikita, she'll take her coat off for her,
0:17:39 > 0:17:44which is a small thing, but an incredibly big thing really.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47It's just that independence of living a normal life again.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Janet's back home now with Nikita, so I thought I'd pay her a visit
0:17:51 > 0:17:54and see how the two of them are getting on.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Sum it up for me. What has Nikita done for you?
0:17:57 > 0:17:59She's changed my life completely.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02She's enabled me to be the person,
0:18:02 > 0:18:05some of the person that I was.
0:18:05 > 0:18:11Um, she's helped me to find ways of living again,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15and just being free and independent, and able to do more.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17What other changes are you looking forward to
0:18:17 > 0:18:19now that you've got Nikita?
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Well, I hope to go into local town shopping again.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Also I hope one day to be able to go on a train
0:18:26 > 0:18:29and go to London to meet my daughter
0:18:29 > 0:18:32and perhaps have a day out shopping and doing girly things with her.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37- Ladies who lunch.- Wouldn't that be fantastic? I've never done that with my daughter.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41That one dog has given Janet back her independence.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45You've seen the smile on her face. You can't put a price on that.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Returning now to the world of the scroungers,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Three Rivers District Council believed this woman
0:19:00 > 0:19:04had been ripping off the benefits system for four years.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07She's a busy lady. Not content with running her own fashion business
0:19:07 > 0:19:09and building up a property empire,
0:19:09 > 0:19:12she's also giving investigators the run-around.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16But sadly for her, the net is closing in.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Gary and his team have been gathering powerful evidence.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24The only problem was, Tinuola Oginni had given them the slip.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27She was no longer living at her house in Northwick Road,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30and was nowhere to be seen at Tee Fashions.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33We thought we'd lost her at that stage.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35But after we'd done some checks with DWP -
0:19:35 > 0:19:39they do in-depth checks with national-insurance numbers -
0:19:39 > 0:19:44Tinuola Oginni once again surfaced at an address in Stevenage,
0:19:44 > 0:19:47where she was claiming benefits with the local authority
0:19:47 > 0:19:49in that particular area, as well.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Claiming benefits again?
0:19:52 > 0:19:55Investigators were now more determined than ever.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59They put Oginni's property in Stevenage under surveillance
0:19:59 > 0:20:03so she didn't disappear while they gathered their final pieces of evidence.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07Whilst surveillance was being undertaken,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10I started to make enquiries under the Social Security Fraud Act
0:20:10 > 0:20:13with a number of banking institutions,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15and they provided me with information
0:20:15 > 0:20:19to show that Tinuola Oginni had quite a number of bank accounts
0:20:19 > 0:20:21which she hadn't previously disclosed.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26Between 2003 and 2007, Tinuola Oginni was making a profit
0:20:26 > 0:20:29from the business Tee Fashions.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Investigators then ran a search with the National Anti-Fraud Network,
0:20:33 > 0:20:37a database of UK fraud intelligence for local authorities.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39It matches names with known addresses,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and they discovered Oginni had owned another property.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45It brought up an address in Harrow,
0:20:45 > 0:20:48which was an address at Brancker Road.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53Tinuola Oginni purchased the property in 2003 for 162,000.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Three years later she'd sold it for 215,000,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59so she'd made nearly £50,000 profit.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05£50,000? That's three times more than the maximum
0:21:05 > 0:21:08anyone's allowed to have to qualify for housing benefit.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11And that's only the start.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14Investigators also obtained the mortgage document
0:21:14 > 0:21:17for the property, which shed more light on Oginni's true finances.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22She's interestingly given her income as,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26for the period leading up to 2003,
0:21:26 > 0:21:31when this mortgage application was made, in the preceding years,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36of 49,000, 47,000 and 44,000 per annum.
0:21:37 > 0:21:38Unbelievable!
0:21:38 > 0:21:42A far cry from the story she'd given the council on her claim forms.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Luckily, the game was almost up for this scrounger.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51In respect of the period of 2003 to 2007,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55we've got Oginni, who's also using the identity of Sijuwade,
0:21:55 > 0:21:58we've got her owning a property in South Oxhey,
0:21:58 > 0:22:02we've got her owning a property that she's bought and sold in Harrow
0:22:02 > 0:22:06and made profit of £50,000 for, and furthermore she's running a business
0:22:06 > 0:22:10and declaring to a mortgage company that she's got an income
0:22:10 > 0:22:12of £44,000 per annum.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16It was time to bring Oginni in.
0:22:16 > 0:22:21She was asked to attend an interview at Stevenage Jobcentre.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24What she didn't know was who else was going to be there.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Miss Oginni was in an interview room
0:22:27 > 0:22:30on the proviso that she was there for an interview
0:22:30 > 0:22:33regarding her benefit claims.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36She had no idea that we were going to arrive.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40We went upstairs.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42I opened the door and introduced myself.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46She looked very shocked to see police officers standing there.
0:22:46 > 0:22:47Tinuola Oginni?
0:22:47 > 0:22:52Her expression was one of surprise. And I explained who I was,
0:22:52 > 0:22:54and why I was there,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58and I asked her to confirm her name and her date of birth
0:22:58 > 0:23:00just to make sure that I had the right person.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04I then arrested her on suspicion of benefit fraud
0:23:04 > 0:23:08that had occurred between 2003 and the present date.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12I then explained to Miss Oginni that I would be handcuffing her.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15At that point she started moving her arms away,
0:23:15 > 0:23:19and said, "I won't be handcuffed. You're not handcuffing me."
0:23:19 > 0:23:22I explained to Miss Oginni that she would be handcuffed.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26She was now under arrest. She still continued to pull her arms away.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31It took a little bit of persuasion,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34to say, "You're coming to the police station."
0:23:34 > 0:23:38"You are going to be handcuffed, so let's do it."
0:23:38 > 0:23:41'And then she did comply.' Come with me.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43We'll talk about this at the station.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50With Oginni in custody,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53PC Green and a team of fraud investigators
0:23:53 > 0:23:56searched her house in Stevenage for further evidence.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59We visited the address.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04While we were there, I noticed that the living area,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07um, there was about four suitcases,
0:24:07 > 0:24:10and these suitcases, one had clothes in,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13another one had chocolate and food items,
0:24:13 > 0:24:16but there was one in particular that had a lot of paperwork.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It was full to the brim with paperwork
0:24:19 > 0:24:21to do with benefit claims for different properties
0:24:21 > 0:24:23and that property itself.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27The guys from the other department I was with went through
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and took anything they thought was evidence from there.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33It was clear to me that the house wasn't lived in full time
0:24:33 > 0:24:35by this lady. There were some indications there
0:24:35 > 0:24:39that the suitcases were definitely hers,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42and it did seem to me that she was just maybe passing through.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46Back at the police station,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49it was time for Oginni to provide some answers.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52She was interviewed under caution in October 2009.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55She was very emotional in the interview.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58She was up and down all the time, getting upset one minute
0:24:58 > 0:25:02and being very focussed the next.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04She was even claiming that, um,
0:25:04 > 0:25:07someone was going to kill her for giving the information.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11It was very, very erratic in what she was telling us,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15very confusing indeed. She confirmed she did own Northwick Road,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18but she didn't see anything wrong in applying for benefits
0:25:18 > 0:25:20at another address to cover the mortgage payments,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23so she didn't think she was doing anything wrong.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27What came out of that interview was that,
0:25:27 > 0:25:32additional to the evidence we'd already obtained,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36was some documents that indicated
0:25:36 > 0:25:40that there were substantial amounts of jewellery
0:25:40 > 0:25:43that had been purchased in Dubai,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46there'd been trips to China, business trips to China...
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Tinuola Oginni was charged with a number of counts
0:25:50 > 0:25:54of fraudulently claiming benefits. She appeared at Ipswich Crown Court
0:25:54 > 0:25:56in March 2010.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58What Oginni maintained all the way through
0:25:58 > 0:26:03was that she hadn't been dishonest, she'd acted appropriately,
0:26:03 > 0:26:05and she had done nothing wrong.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08And that was somebody that had capital,
0:26:08 > 0:26:11lots of money, lots of travel to Dubai, China,
0:26:11 > 0:26:14business, properties,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and yet none of this, when faced with the evidence,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21seemed to matter to her. She didn't think that she acted dishonestly.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26In total, Oginni was found guilty of fraudulently claiming £38,000
0:26:26 > 0:26:30in housing and council-tax benefit from Three Rivers Council,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and £11,000 in income support
0:26:33 > 0:26:35from the Department for Work and Pensions.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39She was sentenced to 21 months in prison,
0:26:39 > 0:26:42after which the council could seize all the money
0:26:42 > 0:26:44she had stolen from the taxpayer.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Just goes to show that, even though some cases span years
0:26:49 > 0:26:54and cover counties, fraud investigators always get their man -
0:26:54 > 0:26:56or woman.
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