0:00:02 > 0:00:08One thing that makes this country great is whenever we find someone in genuine need, we help them out,
0:00:08 > 0:00:13- a hand up when times are tough. - We keep people in their own homes and really help them.
0:00:13 > 0:00:18But when there's cash on offer, you'll always find someone who wants to steal it.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22Their lifestyle didn't mimic people who are living on a minimum wage.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26But those who cheat the system often get what's coming to them.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30They thought they were being clever, but we know what we're looking for.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34This is the world of Saints And Scroungers.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59This is Saints And Scroungers.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03We uncover people trying to get one over on our welfare system
0:01:03 > 0:01:10and we also share the stories of society's Good Samaritans who selflessly help those in need.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14The fraudsters are brought to justice.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18The saints ensure those in genuine need get what they deserve.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20Coming up on today's show...
0:01:20 > 0:01:24A case of multiple identities ripping off the taxpayer.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29The judge in sentencing described him as a parasite on society.
0:01:29 > 0:01:35And what seemed like an impossible dream is fulfilled for one sufferer of Asperger's.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39I came away feeling much, much better about myself.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48If you've worked hard and paid into the system over the years,
0:01:48 > 0:01:55it's good to know that the government has money to support you if for any reason you can't work.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00But that money is there to fulfil a need, not to fuel your greed.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Meet John James Mooney,
0:02:05 > 0:02:12a man in his 60s living in social housing for Irish single men in the London borough of Brent.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Mooney was claiming housing and council tax benefit,
0:02:16 > 0:02:22as well as Disability Living Allowance for a back injury sustained several years earlier.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25So far, nothing out of the ordinary here,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29but suspicions were aroused when Brent Council received a tip-off,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32raising concerns that something was amiss.
0:02:32 > 0:02:38The information was passed on to Brent's Head of Fraud Department, Simon Lane.
0:02:41 > 0:02:46We received some anonymous information about a Mr John Mooney,
0:02:46 > 0:02:52suggesting he wasn't living at the address in Brent, he was visiting the address intermittently.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58If he wasn't living where he said he was living, he wouldn't be entitled to claim housing benefit in Brent.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02The case was taken up by a senior fraud investigator.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Due to the delicate nature of his work, he wants to stay anonymous.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Mr Mooney was also using a Blue Badge
0:03:11 > 0:03:17for a car from Denbighshire in North Wales.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21The anonymous informant claimed that John James Mooney
0:03:21 > 0:03:23drove a distinctive red Jaguar.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Hold on a minute. A man on benefits driving a Jag?
0:03:27 > 0:03:33If this wasn't suspicious enough, why would a car belonging to a claimant living in London
0:03:33 > 0:03:36have a disabled sticker registered to North Wales?
0:03:36 > 0:03:41I contacted Denbighshire County Council
0:03:41 > 0:03:47to make enquiries about whether John James Mooney had a Blue Badge
0:03:47 > 0:03:49in Denbighshire.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54It turns out that Denbighshire Council had no such person registered to that area,
0:03:54 > 0:04:00but the team discovered a Blue Badge application in the name of John Mooney at his borough of Brent.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04So why use a North Wales Blue Badge on his car
0:04:04 > 0:04:07when John Mooney had one registered in London?
0:04:07 > 0:04:12The Brent application contained a passport photo of John James Mooney.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17It was a good quality picture, one that Mr Mooney himself had provided.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20I scanned that photograph
0:04:20 > 0:04:22and e-mailed that to Denbighshire
0:04:22 > 0:04:27who identified that as a George Mooney, not John James Mooney,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30a George Mooney of an address in Rhyl.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34There was a live claim for housing benefit at that address.
0:04:34 > 0:04:40George Mooney... Well, aren't we dealing with a John James Mooney claiming benefits in Brent?
0:04:40 > 0:04:46That was the start of the click that you knew that yes, we've got a multiple.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50When you've got a multiple, two can be just the start.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56Initially, when we got the investigation going, we thought they might be two different people,
0:04:56 > 0:05:02so we needed to confirm for definite that they were the same person claiming in two different places.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05The investigation team smelt a cheat,
0:05:05 > 0:05:09so to prove that the two Mooneys were not two legitimate claimants
0:05:09 > 0:05:13of the same family, like brothers, the team needed more evidence.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18John James Mooney has got very distinctive hand-writing,
0:05:18 > 0:05:24so I faxed up to Denbighshire Council examples of his hand-writing
0:05:24 > 0:05:29and they confirmed that the hand-writing that I had
0:05:29 > 0:05:34was very similar or identical to the hand-writing that they had
0:05:34 > 0:05:36for George Mooney.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41It was the first concrete proof that they were dealing with a potential scrounger.
0:05:41 > 0:05:47We knew we had two claims. Although they had different National Insurance numbers and different dates of birth,
0:05:47 > 0:05:50the pictures and the hand-writing were the same.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Both were claiming as single men with attached disability benefits.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Could it be that the two Mooneys were in fact one and the same,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02yet claiming benefits at two councils hundreds of miles apart?
0:06:02 > 0:06:06The team firmly believed they were dealing with an ID fraudster,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10but they had to work out who was real and who was fake.
0:06:13 > 0:06:20I have access to a credit reference agency to make enquiries about people's bank accounts.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26From my enquiries with George Mooney in North Wales,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29it gave me another address in Manchester.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34It now seems there are three locations in the Mooney mix -
0:06:34 > 0:06:38London, North Wales and Manchester.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42It's a much bigger case than Brent Council ever imagined,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45so time to bring in the big guns -
0:06:45 > 0:06:50'the Department for Work and Pensions Fraud Team, headed up by Bob Gallacher,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54'who deals with nationwide cases on this kind of scale.'
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Why would they contact you? The benefits are coming locally.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Why are you the connecting thing?
0:07:01 > 0:07:06Because we're the specialists in dealing with multiple identification fraud.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11We submitted a lot of his claim forms that he had passed over the years for forensic examination
0:07:11 > 0:07:14and they came back positive,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17both in terms of fingerprinting forensics
0:07:17 > 0:07:19and hand-writing.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23So, forensics proved that their hunch was right all along.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27George and John Mooney were in fact one and the same,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29but which one was the real Mooney
0:07:29 > 0:07:32or could there even be more Mooneys in the mystery?
0:07:32 > 0:07:36We did some checks on the Jaguar car
0:07:36 > 0:07:40and that's exactly what led us on to a potential third identity.
0:07:47 > 0:07:53For now though, it's farewell to the fraudsters and hello to those we call saints,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57those who help others in genuine need or who are too proud
0:07:57 > 0:08:01or don't even know how to claim what's rightfully theirs.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08Starting university is a daunting prospect at the best of times,
0:08:08 > 0:08:12but imagine facing that big change when you've got a disability.
0:08:13 > 0:08:19And that was the case with 22-year-old Tom Synnott, a young man with undiagnosed behavioural issues
0:08:19 > 0:08:23who struggled with his schooling for as long as his family could remember.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26We couldn't get anybody, especially our GPs,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30they seemed determined not to diagnose him as Asperger's.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35His parents did what they could to get him through the education system,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39but for Tom, his schooldays were difficult and frustrating.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42I didn't really fit in very well.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45I never did at school.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48I used to get bullied a lot.
0:08:48 > 0:08:53During his primary school years, a number of tests were carried out by specialists
0:08:53 > 0:08:58to assess his hearing, sight, balance and general behaviour.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Asperger's syndrome was discussed, but never formally diagnosed.
0:09:02 > 0:09:07It affects how a person makes sense of the world, processes information and relates to others.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12By the time that Tom got to secondary school,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15we were beginning to despair
0:09:15 > 0:09:19because all the appointments and so on had led nowhere.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23I didn't understand why I sort of...
0:09:24 > 0:09:28..why I wasn't fitting in with the other students
0:09:28 > 0:09:31and why I was finding it so difficult
0:09:31 > 0:09:34to understand things that other people found so straightforward.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37I felt like a total outsider at school.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39Tom made it through sixth form.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44He had no problems academically, but he was still struggling socially
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and only managed to get a job in the kitchen of his local pub.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49I was a dishwasher,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51so obviously, it wasn't that much fun.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54but despite how I was surrounded by nice people,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56I still couldn't fit in.
0:09:56 > 0:10:02Despite all the setbacks, Tom knew that a life washing dishes or on the dole wasn't for him,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06so mustering up the courage, he applied to university.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09I found out about De Montfort through an e-mail by UCAS.
0:10:09 > 0:10:16I looked at the website, I looked at the criteria and I thought, "Hang on, this could work."
0:10:16 > 0:10:21During the application process, Tom revealed his suspected Asperger's,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24a decision which proved to be a turning point in his life.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27I thought, "It won't have any impact at all,
0:10:27 > 0:10:29"but I'll mention it anyway."
0:10:29 > 0:10:31How wrong could he be?
0:10:31 > 0:10:36While the university considered the application on academic merits,
0:10:36 > 0:10:43his declaration of Asperger's was immediately examined by their Disability Advice and Support Team.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45It is stressful coming to university.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48Having to worry about your support is not acceptable.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50The team get involved right from day one.
0:10:50 > 0:10:56Once a student declares on their UCAS form or if a student comes to an open day at De Montfort University,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58they come and talk to the team.
0:10:58 > 0:11:04The university gave us a crucial piece of information
0:11:04 > 0:11:06which was that there were cases
0:11:06 > 0:11:11where students had been accepted as deserving
0:11:11 > 0:11:14of Disabled Students' Allowance
0:11:14 > 0:11:18simply on the basis of having a GP's letter.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23Finally, the news that Tom and his family had been waiting more than 20 years for.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26I was amazed that we finally had got it.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31We have a letter saying Tom has Asperger's. I was elated, especially for Tom.
0:11:31 > 0:11:37Armed with this letter from his GP, Tom was now eligible to apply for support and it was just in time,
0:11:37 > 0:11:43as to his great elation, he was accepted to study History at De Montfort University.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48So, finally, Tom has got what he needs, a formal diagnosis of Asperger's,
0:11:48 > 0:11:51something that the family has always suspected,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54but he still faces his biggest challenge yet -
0:11:54 > 0:11:59how will he cope with life away from home at university?
0:11:59 > 0:12:02One thing his parents were very concerned about was the change.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Going from school into higher education is a big jump for any student.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11Tom was referred to AbilityNet by the university,
0:12:11 > 0:12:17an organisation which sets out to improve the lives of disabled people at work, home or in education.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22Elizabeth Hughes assessed Tom to see if he was eligible for the Disabled Students' Allowance,
0:12:22 > 0:12:28a Government grant to help disabled students applying for university gain access to help and support.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32He's academically very able. There's no problem academically.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36It was more to do with living with other people,
0:12:36 > 0:12:40which, obviously, you do at university,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42sharing facilities,
0:12:42 > 0:12:44cooking, cleaning,
0:12:44 > 0:12:46getting up in the morning.
0:12:46 > 0:12:53After that interview was over, I came away feeling much, much better about myself
0:12:53 > 0:12:56and much better about my odds of surviving uni.
0:12:56 > 0:13:02Students with Asperger's are particularly prone to giving up on university in the first few weeks
0:13:02 > 0:13:05if they don't get support.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Tom needed a real, comprehensive support package
0:13:09 > 0:13:14which involved computer equipment, a laptop or a PC,
0:13:14 > 0:13:18specialist equipment, specialist software equipment as well,
0:13:18 > 0:13:24but to my mind, more importantly, the mentoring support from the National Autistic Society.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And we work very closely with them at De Montfort.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Thanks to the 37-page report compiled by Elizabeth
0:13:31 > 0:13:37which confirmed that Tom was indeed eligible for the Disabled Students' Allowance, from day one at uni,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41measures were put into place to help Tom in every way possible.
0:13:43 > 0:13:49Tom ended up receiving over £2,000-worth of computer equipment and training,
0:13:49 > 0:13:53as well as mentoring and support from the National Autistic Society,
0:13:53 > 0:13:58but arriving at uni was still going to be a shock.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01My first day here was absolutely terrifying.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07And I was just getting to meet my flatmates.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13It was kind of surprising because I got along with them much better than I thought I would.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17After initial concerns, Tom seemed to be settling in
0:14:17 > 0:14:22and the mentors provided for him were easing him into student life.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26They were just like the friends that I never really had at school.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Just people I could talk to whenever I needed to.
0:14:29 > 0:14:35I can't even count the amount of times that I've turned to Lynda for help,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37just with general advice, really.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39I can ask them anything.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44The grant that Tom received from the Disabled Students' Allowance was invaluable.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50They don't get money. They get the goods and services that they need to support them in higher education.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54I'd say that it was money that was really well spent.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59It's going to come back into the community over and over
0:14:59 > 0:15:02because Tom's future is that much better.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07Finally, Tom's dreams of a future in education were falling into place.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11He's enjoying the course and he's on track for a very good degree.
0:15:11 > 0:15:17It proves that the support is invaluable and that's the main thing for me. That's my job satisfaction.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20I'm very proud of him.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23I still get a lump in my throat when I see my students graduate.
0:15:23 > 0:15:30When they go across that stage after their time at De Montfort, that's what is most important to us all.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34I'm enjoying myself for the first time in...for ever.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38I just feel so much more confident than I ever did at school.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42The best decision that I ever made was to come to uni.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44To my mentors in particular,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47I just want to say thank you so much.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53I will be forever in your debt.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Without the help of De Montfort University and AbilityNet,
0:16:00 > 0:16:04there's very little chance that Tom would have survived his time in higher education,
0:16:04 > 0:16:11but now that kid, whose prospects appeared so dim, is now in line for a first-class degree,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14something that just a short time ago would have seemed impossible.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15Nice one, Tom.
0:16:22 > 0:16:27'We're leaving the people who deserve our help to those that just help themselves.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31'The case started with an anonymous tip-off in the London borough of Brent
0:16:31 > 0:16:37'that a certain John James Mooney was not residing at the address for which he was claiming benefits.
0:16:37 > 0:16:43'His red Jaguar displayed a disabled badge that was registered to Denbighshire, North Wales,
0:16:43 > 0:16:48'where Brent Council's fraud team discovered he was claiming benefits using two names.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52'Working alongside the DWP, forensic info showed
0:16:52 > 0:16:54'that they were dealing with one man
0:16:54 > 0:16:57'playing the part of two people - John and George Mooney.
0:16:57 > 0:17:04'But Bob Gallacher, the Department for Work and Pensions fraud expert who was overseeing the case,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08'felt there were certain avenues that hadn't been fully explored.'
0:17:08 > 0:17:14When you look at something like this, do you think, "He's driving a Jaguar?" Does that come into it?
0:17:14 > 0:17:19It does act as a pointer in some respects, but it's not necessarily the sole factor.
0:17:19 > 0:17:24But, yeah, it did lead us to increase our suspicions, if you will.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28We did some checks on the Jaguar car
0:17:28 > 0:17:33and that's exactly what led us on to a potential third identity.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36And when we checked our computer records,
0:17:36 > 0:17:41that's when we identified this third identity as being Bertie Mooney.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44'Bertie Mooney? Where did he come from?
0:17:45 > 0:17:48'ID provided by Mooney to claim benefits
0:17:48 > 0:17:54'led the fraud investigation team at the DWP to contact authorities in the Republic of Ireland
0:17:54 > 0:17:59'who had no records of either a John or George Mooney fitting the description.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03'They did, however, have a birth certificate for a Bertie Mooney.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08'Could this finally be the missing link to the Mooneys' true identity?'
0:18:08 > 0:18:10- Bertie Mooney?- Bertie Mooney.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13- He's the real man? - He's the real Mooney.- Right.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18And you know this because you've got birth certificates or other documentation
0:18:18 > 0:18:21that proves Bertie is a real person?
0:18:21 > 0:18:25This is where we worked closely with our colleagues in Ireland
0:18:25 > 0:18:29and they were able to confirm that through birth registers
0:18:29 > 0:18:35that Bertie Mooney did exist, he was the real person, so that's when we knew we were on to a winner.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39'It now seems we have the true identity of our benefit fraudster -
0:18:39 > 0:18:42'Bertie Mooney, born in Ireland.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44'The other two were simply his aliases.'
0:18:44 > 0:18:48It's now looking like we've got three different claims.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Same surname, different National Insurance number and date of birth.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57Three different forenames, all claiming as single men
0:18:57 > 0:19:00with disability benefits attached and state pension attached,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03so quite a significant sum.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07It was now time to ramp up the investigation to a whole new level.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12I authorised surveillance for our investigators to actually follow Mr Mooney
0:19:12 > 0:19:18and it was through that we were able to identify that the Mooney we were dealing with from Manchester
0:19:18 > 0:19:23was the same Mooney we were dealing with in Rhyl and we were dealing with in London.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Bob and his surveillance team uncovered a pattern
0:19:27 > 0:19:30involving Mooney driving his distinctive red Jaguar
0:19:30 > 0:19:33hundreds of miles cross-country
0:19:33 > 0:19:35to collect separate benefits,
0:19:35 > 0:19:40creating the impression that the three separate Mooneys were living in three separate areas.
0:19:40 > 0:19:46John Mooney withdrew his benefit in London. George Mooney did the same in Rhyl, North Wales.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50And Bertie Mooney was doing the same old trick in Manchester.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55So he was actually collecting his entire payments on a monthly basis
0:19:55 > 0:19:58which is not the normal pattern.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03The thinking is if he's only collecting monthly, he can't be desperate for the money?
0:20:03 > 0:20:09Exactly. And what we've got to bear in mind is this is the man's sole income.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13What we did then is we contacted the post offices
0:20:13 > 0:20:16and what we found out, for example, in North Wales...
0:20:16 > 0:20:21One of the postmasters was able to tell us
0:20:21 > 0:20:26that when he was withdrawing the money, his benefit entitlements,
0:20:26 > 0:20:31he was actually depositing large sums of money into a post office investment account.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37That's fantastic. You take a little bit out, you put a lot more back.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41'The surveillance revealed a pattern when it came to Mooney's movements.'
0:20:41 > 0:20:46What I'd like to show you here, Matt, is that our investigators followed Mr Mooney
0:20:46 > 0:20:50from Manchester to North Wales.
0:20:50 > 0:20:57Finally, we followed him to London and again we repeated the same process.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59We followed him to the post office.
0:20:59 > 0:21:03We saw him cashing his benefits in the post office
0:21:03 > 0:21:06and obviously, Manchester to London is a long way
0:21:06 > 0:21:11in one day, so he actually spent the evening
0:21:11 > 0:21:13in the address that he was renting in London.
0:21:13 > 0:21:20So you're linking each of the properties that could be somebody else, could be a different identity,
0:21:20 > 0:21:25- but actually, you're seeing the same character go from one to the next?- Yes.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28'After a year-long surveillance operation across the UK,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31'seven different addresses were linked to Mooney,
0:21:31 > 0:21:37'including a property bought outright for cash in Abergele, North Wales, in 2003.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40'With assets like this, had he been means-tested,
0:21:40 > 0:21:46'there's no way Mooney would have been entitled to claim the kind of benefits he was.'
0:21:46 > 0:21:52So the final parts of the jigsaw really had come together and we knew that we had a concrete case now
0:21:52 > 0:21:57to present to him and give him the opportunity to tell us his side of the story.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01I would love to have heard that conversation.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06'On the 17th of May, 2010, Bertie Mooney was arrested in Manchester.'
0:22:06 > 0:22:10So what we did is we worked with the police in Greater Manchester
0:22:10 > 0:22:13and we arranged for an arrest
0:22:13 > 0:22:18and a search and seizure of the premises in which he was living in the Manchester area
0:22:18 > 0:22:21and at the same time, we co-ordinated with
0:22:21 > 0:22:24the North Wales Police and the London Police
0:22:24 > 0:22:29to do a search and seizure of the property
0:22:29 > 0:22:32both in Rhyl and in Abergele where he was living
0:22:32 > 0:22:35and also in the flat in London,
0:22:35 > 0:22:40so that we were able to bring the whole exercise together
0:22:40 > 0:22:43and we found various documentation in all of the premises.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46For example, in the London address,
0:22:46 > 0:22:51we actually found the false passport which he had hidden under his pillow.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53It was actually in his pillow case.
0:22:53 > 0:22:58We did a full search of the property that he was living in in Manchester
0:22:58 > 0:23:04and we found quite a bundle of documentation
0:23:04 > 0:23:06that was hidden in the garden shed.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09It confirmed everything that we basically found,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12that he was operating three identities,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15he was operating three claims
0:23:15 > 0:23:20and he was basically fleecing the Department for a lot of money.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23'As well as revealing crucial documents,
0:23:23 > 0:23:28'the search of Mooney's properties also revealed the true extent of his deceit.'
0:23:28 > 0:23:30He had food in the property.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34If he was ever visited, he would say, "Yes, I've got food here."
0:23:34 > 0:23:37But when you looked at the tins,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41the tins of food were about four years out of date.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44'Mooney was interviewed under caution and he admitted
0:23:44 > 0:23:47'his real name, as suspected, was Bertie Mooney
0:23:47 > 0:23:51'and he had been using the aliases of John and George
0:23:51 > 0:23:52'for more than 20 years.'
0:23:52 > 0:23:55During the course of the interview,
0:23:55 > 0:24:01I got the impression that Mr Mooney was playing the role
0:24:01 > 0:24:03of a lovable rogue.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06He was quite jocular, very friendly.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08He complained about his bad back,
0:24:08 > 0:24:11but he came over as almost quite amused
0:24:11 > 0:24:16about the fact that we'd gone to this trouble to catch him,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19that he knew what he was doing was wrong,
0:24:19 > 0:24:25but I think that he had grown accustomed to the amount of money that he was getting.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30He effectively was getting three sets of benefits, as if he was three people.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32He admitted to everything.
0:24:32 > 0:24:39'He was able to use his connections in the Republic of Ireland to help create his aliases.'
0:24:39 > 0:24:42I would imagine through that access
0:24:42 > 0:24:46that there is the ability to get a driving licence,
0:24:46 > 0:24:50possibly a passport, if you're prepared to pay for these things,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54then they can be used to obtain a National Insurance number.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59That's what he'd done. He had obtained three National Insurance numbers.
0:24:59 > 0:25:05'Mooney was released on bail, but getting him before a judge proved harder than anticipated.'
0:25:05 > 0:25:12- Tell me about court. What happened? - I have to say it did take a long time for us to get him into court
0:25:12 > 0:25:15because there were a number of delaying tactics.
0:25:15 > 0:25:22I know he was genuinely admitted to hospital because he has some spinal problems.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27He failed on several occasions to answer his bail conditions
0:25:27 > 0:25:29and to appear in court as well.
0:25:29 > 0:25:35He was providing documentation from his doctors and consultants to say that he was unfit to stand trial
0:25:35 > 0:25:38and this went on for quite a while,
0:25:38 > 0:25:43but I think the judge who was actually trying the case
0:25:43 > 0:25:49said that enough was enough and that he really wanted to get him into court
0:25:49 > 0:25:51and that is exactly what happened.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55'Finally, on the 28th of February, 2012,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57'Bertie Mooney appeared in court
0:25:57 > 0:26:00'and pled guilty to 38 charges of benefit fraud,
0:26:00 > 0:26:06'having falsely claimed benefits of over £460,000 over two decades.'
0:26:06 > 0:26:12He finally appeared in Crown Court in Manchester and he was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17The judge, in sentencing him, described him as a parasite on society,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21taking money from those who actually needed it.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26As part of the financial investigation, the Jaguar would be taken away from him
0:26:26 > 0:26:29by the Department for Work and Pensions and sold.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33The house was taken and seized and sold
0:26:33 > 0:26:37and if there was any other assets,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40they would endeavour to take those.
0:26:40 > 0:26:46On top of all of this, Bertie Mooney was asked to pay back an additional £100,000 within six months
0:26:46 > 0:26:49or risk a further two-year sentence.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53So, Mooney spent years clocking up the miles on his Jag
0:26:53 > 0:26:57as he cruised around the country, picking up his benefits.
0:26:57 > 0:27:03Now, thanks to the hard work of fraud investigators, he's not going anywhere. He's in a jail cell.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06On the plus side, he's saving loads in petrol.