Episode 16 Saints and Scroungers

One thing that makes this country great is whenever we find someone in genuine need, we help them out,

-a hand up when times are tough.

-We keep people in their own homes and really help them.

But when there's cash on offer, you'll always find someone who wants to steal it.

Their lifestyle didn't mimic people who are living on a minimum wage.

But those who cheat the system often get what's coming to them.

They thought they were being clever, but we know what we're looking for.

This is the world of Saints And Scroungers.

This is Saints And Scroungers.

We uncover people trying to get one over on our welfare system

and we also share the stories of society's Good Samaritans who selflessly help those in need.

The fraudsters are brought to justice.

The saints ensure those in genuine need get what they deserve.

Coming up on today's show...

A case of multiple identities ripping off the taxpayer.

The judge in sentencing described him as a parasite on society.

And what seemed like an impossible dream is fulfilled for one sufferer of Asperger's.

I came away feeling much, much better about myself.

If you've worked hard and paid into the system over the years,

it's good to know that the government has money to support you if for any reason you can't work.

But that money is there to fulfil a need, not to fuel your greed.

Meet John James Mooney,

a man in his 60s living in social housing for Irish single men in the London borough of Brent.

Mooney was claiming housing and council tax benefit,

as well as Disability Living Allowance for a back injury sustained several years earlier.

So far, nothing out of the ordinary here,

but suspicions were aroused when Brent Council received a tip-off,

raising concerns that something was amiss.

The information was passed on to Brent's Head of Fraud Department, Simon Lane.

We received some anonymous information about a Mr John Mooney,

suggesting he wasn't living at the address in Brent, he was visiting the address intermittently.

If he wasn't living where he said he was living, he wouldn't be entitled to claim housing benefit in Brent.

The case was taken up by a senior fraud investigator.

Due to the delicate nature of his work, he wants to stay anonymous.

Mr Mooney was also using a Blue Badge

for a car from Denbighshire in North Wales.

The anonymous informant claimed that John James Mooney

drove a distinctive red Jaguar.

Hold on a minute. A man on benefits driving a Jag?

If this wasn't suspicious enough, why would a car belonging to a claimant living in London

have a disabled sticker registered to North Wales?

I contacted Denbighshire County Council

to make enquiries about whether John James Mooney had a Blue Badge

in Denbighshire.

It turns out that Denbighshire Council had no such person registered to that area,

but the team discovered a Blue Badge application in the name of John Mooney at his borough of Brent.

So why use a North Wales Blue Badge on his car

when John Mooney had one registered in London?

The Brent application contained a passport photo of John James Mooney.

It was a good quality picture, one that Mr Mooney himself had provided.

I scanned that photograph

and e-mailed that to Denbighshire

who identified that as a George Mooney, not John James Mooney,

a George Mooney of an address in Rhyl.

There was a live claim for housing benefit at that address.

George Mooney... Well, aren't we dealing with a John James Mooney claiming benefits in Brent?

That was the start of the click that you knew that yes, we've got a multiple.

When you've got a multiple, two can be just the start.

Initially, when we got the investigation going, we thought they might be two different people,

so we needed to confirm for definite that they were the same person claiming in two different places.

The investigation team smelt a cheat,

so to prove that the two Mooneys were not two legitimate claimants

of the same family, like brothers, the team needed more evidence.

John James Mooney has got very distinctive hand-writing,

so I faxed up to Denbighshire Council examples of his hand-writing

and they confirmed that the hand-writing that I had

was very similar or identical to the hand-writing that they had

for George Mooney.

It was the first concrete proof that they were dealing with a potential scrounger.

We knew we had two claims. Although they had different National Insurance numbers and different dates of birth,

the pictures and the hand-writing were the same.

Both were claiming as single men with attached disability benefits.

Could it be that the two Mooneys were in fact one and the same,

yet claiming benefits at two councils hundreds of miles apart?

The team firmly believed they were dealing with an ID fraudster,

but they had to work out who was real and who was fake.

I have access to a credit reference agency to make enquiries about people's bank accounts.

From my enquiries with George Mooney in North Wales,

it gave me another address in Manchester.

It now seems there are three locations in the Mooney mix -

London, North Wales and Manchester.

It's a much bigger case than Brent Council ever imagined,

so time to bring in the big guns -

'the Department for Work and Pensions Fraud Team, headed up by Bob Gallacher,

'who deals with nationwide cases on this kind of scale.'

Why would they contact you? The benefits are coming locally.

Why are you the connecting thing?

Because we're the specialists in dealing with multiple identification fraud.

We submitted a lot of his claim forms that he had passed over the years for forensic examination

and they came back positive,

both in terms of fingerprinting forensics

and hand-writing.

So, forensics proved that their hunch was right all along.

George and John Mooney were in fact one and the same,

but which one was the real Mooney

or could there even be more Mooneys in the mystery?

We did some checks on the Jaguar car

and that's exactly what led us on to a potential third identity.

For now though, it's farewell to the fraudsters and hello to those we call saints,

those who help others in genuine need or who are too proud

or don't even know how to claim what's rightfully theirs.

Starting university is a daunting prospect at the best of times,

but imagine facing that big change when you've got a disability.

And that was the case with 22-year-old Tom Synnott, a young man with undiagnosed behavioural issues

who struggled with his schooling for as long as his family could remember.

We couldn't get anybody, especially our GPs,

they seemed determined not to diagnose him as Asperger's.

His parents did what they could to get him through the education system,

but for Tom, his schooldays were difficult and frustrating.

I didn't really fit in very well.

I never did at school.

I used to get bullied a lot.

During his primary school years, a number of tests were carried out by specialists

to assess his hearing, sight, balance and general behaviour.

Asperger's syndrome was discussed, but never formally diagnosed.

It affects how a person makes sense of the world, processes information and relates to others.

By the time that Tom got to secondary school,

we were beginning to despair

because all the appointments and so on had led nowhere.

I didn't understand why I sort of...

..why I wasn't fitting in with the other students

and why I was finding it so difficult

to understand things that other people found so straightforward.

I felt like a total outsider at school.

Tom made it through sixth form.

He had no problems academically, but he was still struggling socially

and only managed to get a job in the kitchen of his local pub.

I was a dishwasher,

so obviously, it wasn't that much fun.

but despite how I was surrounded by nice people,

I still couldn't fit in.

Despite all the setbacks, Tom knew that a life washing dishes or on the dole wasn't for him,

so mustering up the courage, he applied to university.

I found out about De Montfort through an e-mail by UCAS.

I looked at the website, I looked at the criteria and I thought, "Hang on, this could work."

During the application process, Tom revealed his suspected Asperger's,

a decision which proved to be a turning point in his life.

I thought, "It won't have any impact at all,

"but I'll mention it anyway."

How wrong could he be?

While the university considered the application on academic merits,

his declaration of Asperger's was immediately examined by their Disability Advice and Support Team.

It is stressful coming to university.

Having to worry about your support is not acceptable.

The team get involved right from day one.

Once a student declares on their UCAS form or if a student comes to an open day at De Montfort University,

they come and talk to the team.

The university gave us a crucial piece of information

which was that there were cases

where students had been accepted as deserving

of Disabled Students' Allowance

simply on the basis of having a GP's letter.

Finally, the news that Tom and his family had been waiting more than 20 years for.

I was amazed that we finally had got it.

We have a letter saying Tom has Asperger's. I was elated, especially for Tom.

Armed with this letter from his GP, Tom was now eligible to apply for support and it was just in time,

as to his great elation, he was accepted to study History at De Montfort University.

So, finally, Tom has got what he needs, a formal diagnosis of Asperger's,

something that the family has always suspected,

but he still faces his biggest challenge yet -

how will he cope with life away from home at university?

One thing his parents were very concerned about was the change.

Going from school into higher education is a big jump for any student.

Tom was referred to AbilityNet by the university,

an organisation which sets out to improve the lives of disabled people at work, home or in education.

Elizabeth Hughes assessed Tom to see if he was eligible for the Disabled Students' Allowance,

a Government grant to help disabled students applying for university gain access to help and support.

He's academically very able. There's no problem academically.

It was more to do with living with other people,

which, obviously, you do at university,

sharing facilities,

cooking, cleaning,

getting up in the morning.

After that interview was over, I came away feeling much, much better about myself

and much better about my odds of surviving uni.

Students with Asperger's are particularly prone to giving up on university in the first few weeks

if they don't get support.

Tom needed a real, comprehensive support package

which involved computer equipment, a laptop or a PC,

specialist equipment, specialist software equipment as well,

but to my mind, more importantly, the mentoring support from the National Autistic Society.

And we work very closely with them at De Montfort.

Thanks to the 37-page report compiled by Elizabeth

which confirmed that Tom was indeed eligible for the Disabled Students' Allowance, from day one at uni,

measures were put into place to help Tom in every way possible.

Tom ended up receiving over £2,000-worth of computer equipment and training,

as well as mentoring and support from the National Autistic Society,

but arriving at uni was still going to be a shock.

My first day here was absolutely terrifying.

And I was just getting to meet my flatmates.

It was kind of surprising because I got along with them much better than I thought I would.

After initial concerns, Tom seemed to be settling in

and the mentors provided for him were easing him into student life.

They were just like the friends that I never really had at school.

Just people I could talk to whenever I needed to.

I can't even count the amount of times that I've turned to Lynda for help,

just with general advice, really.

I can ask them anything.

The grant that Tom received from the Disabled Students' Allowance was invaluable.

They don't get money. They get the goods and services that they need to support them in higher education.

I'd say that it was money that was really well spent.

It's going to come back into the community over and over

because Tom's future is that much better.

Finally, Tom's dreams of a future in education were falling into place.

He's enjoying the course and he's on track for a very good degree.

It proves that the support is invaluable and that's the main thing for me. That's my job satisfaction.

I'm very proud of him.

I still get a lump in my throat when I see my students graduate.

When they go across that stage after their time at De Montfort, that's what is most important to us all.

I'm enjoying myself for the first time in...for ever.

I just feel so much more confident than I ever did at school.

The best decision that I ever made was to come to uni.

To my mentors in particular,

I just want to say thank you so much.

I will be forever in your debt.

Without the help of De Montfort University and AbilityNet,

there's very little chance that Tom would have survived his time in higher education,

but now that kid, whose prospects appeared so dim, is now in line for a first-class degree,

something that just a short time ago would have seemed impossible.

Nice one, Tom.

'We're leaving the people who deserve our help to those that just help themselves.

'The case started with an anonymous tip-off in the London borough of Brent

'that a certain John James Mooney was not residing at the address for which he was claiming benefits.

'His red Jaguar displayed a disabled badge that was registered to Denbighshire, North Wales,

'where Brent Council's fraud team discovered he was claiming benefits using two names.

'Working alongside the DWP, forensic info showed

'that they were dealing with one man

'playing the part of two people - John and George Mooney.

'But Bob Gallacher, the Department for Work and Pensions fraud expert who was overseeing the case,

'felt there were certain avenues that hadn't been fully explored.'

When you look at something like this, do you think, "He's driving a Jaguar?" Does that come into it?

It does act as a pointer in some respects, but it's not necessarily the sole factor.

But, yeah, it did lead us to increase our suspicions, if you will.

We did some checks on the Jaguar car

and that's exactly what led us on to a potential third identity.

And when we checked our computer records,

that's when we identified this third identity as being Bertie Mooney.

'Bertie Mooney? Where did he come from?

'ID provided by Mooney to claim benefits

'led the fraud investigation team at the DWP to contact authorities in the Republic of Ireland

'who had no records of either a John or George Mooney fitting the description.

'They did, however, have a birth certificate for a Bertie Mooney.

'Could this finally be the missing link to the Mooneys' true identity?'

-Bertie Mooney?

-Bertie Mooney.

-He's the real man?

-He's the real Mooney.

-Right.

And you know this because you've got birth certificates or other documentation

that proves Bertie is a real person?

This is where we worked closely with our colleagues in Ireland

and they were able to confirm that through birth registers

that Bertie Mooney did exist, he was the real person, so that's when we knew we were on to a winner.

'It now seems we have the true identity of our benefit fraudster -

'Bertie Mooney, born in Ireland.

'The other two were simply his aliases.'

It's now looking like we've got three different claims.

Same surname, different National Insurance number and date of birth.

Three different forenames, all claiming as single men

with disability benefits attached and state pension attached,

so quite a significant sum.

It was now time to ramp up the investigation to a whole new level.

I authorised surveillance for our investigators to actually follow Mr Mooney

and it was through that we were able to identify that the Mooney we were dealing with from Manchester

was the same Mooney we were dealing with in Rhyl and we were dealing with in London.

Bob and his surveillance team uncovered a pattern

involving Mooney driving his distinctive red Jaguar

hundreds of miles cross-country

to collect separate benefits,

creating the impression that the three separate Mooneys were living in three separate areas.

John Mooney withdrew his benefit in London. George Mooney did the same in Rhyl, North Wales.

And Bertie Mooney was doing the same old trick in Manchester.

So he was actually collecting his entire payments on a monthly basis

which is not the normal pattern.

The thinking is if he's only collecting monthly, he can't be desperate for the money?

Exactly. And what we've got to bear in mind is this is the man's sole income.

What we did then is we contacted the post offices

and what we found out, for example, in North Wales...

One of the postmasters was able to tell us

that when he was withdrawing the money, his benefit entitlements,

he was actually depositing large sums of money into a post office investment account.

That's fantastic. You take a little bit out, you put a lot more back.

'The surveillance revealed a pattern when it came to Mooney's movements.'

What I'd like to show you here, Matt, is that our investigators followed Mr Mooney

from Manchester to North Wales.

Finally, we followed him to London and again we repeated the same process.

We followed him to the post office.

We saw him cashing his benefits in the post office

and obviously, Manchester to London is a long way

in one day, so he actually spent the evening

in the address that he was renting in London.

So you're linking each of the properties that could be somebody else, could be a different identity,

-but actually, you're seeing the same character go from one to the next?

-Yes.

'After a year-long surveillance operation across the UK,

'seven different addresses were linked to Mooney,

'including a property bought outright for cash in Abergele, North Wales, in 2003.

'With assets like this, had he been means-tested,

'there's no way Mooney would have been entitled to claim the kind of benefits he was.'

So the final parts of the jigsaw really had come together and we knew that we had a concrete case now

to present to him and give him the opportunity to tell us his side of the story.

I would love to have heard that conversation.

'On the 17th of May, 2010, Bertie Mooney was arrested in Manchester.'

So what we did is we worked with the police in Greater Manchester

and we arranged for an arrest

and a search and seizure of the premises in which he was living in the Manchester area

and at the same time, we co-ordinated with

the North Wales Police and the London Police

to do a search and seizure of the property

both in Rhyl and in Abergele where he was living

and also in the flat in London,

so that we were able to bring the whole exercise together

and we found various documentation in all of the premises.

For example, in the London address,

we actually found the false passport which he had hidden under his pillow.

It was actually in his pillow case.

We did a full search of the property that he was living in in Manchester

and we found quite a bundle of documentation

that was hidden in the garden shed.

It confirmed everything that we basically found,

that he was operating three identities,

he was operating three claims

and he was basically fleecing the Department for a lot of money.

'As well as revealing crucial documents,

'the search of Mooney's properties also revealed the true extent of his deceit.'

He had food in the property.

If he was ever visited, he would say, "Yes, I've got food here."

But when you looked at the tins,

the tins of food were about four years out of date.

'Mooney was interviewed under caution and he admitted

'his real name, as suspected, was Bertie Mooney

'and he had been using the aliases of John and George

'for more than 20 years.'

During the course of the interview,

I got the impression that Mr Mooney was playing the role

of a lovable rogue.

He was quite jocular, very friendly.

He complained about his bad back,

but he came over as almost quite amused

about the fact that we'd gone to this trouble to catch him,

that he knew what he was doing was wrong,

but I think that he had grown accustomed to the amount of money that he was getting.

He effectively was getting three sets of benefits, as if he was three people.

He admitted to everything.

'He was able to use his connections in the Republic of Ireland to help create his aliases.'

I would imagine through that access

that there is the ability to get a driving licence,

possibly a passport, if you're prepared to pay for these things,

then they can be used to obtain a National Insurance number.

That's what he'd done. He had obtained three National Insurance numbers.

'Mooney was released on bail, but getting him before a judge proved harder than anticipated.'

-Tell me about court. What happened?

-I have to say it did take a long time for us to get him into court

because there were a number of delaying tactics.

I know he was genuinely admitted to hospital because he has some spinal problems.

He failed on several occasions to answer his bail conditions

and to appear in court as well.

He was providing documentation from his doctors and consultants to say that he was unfit to stand trial

and this went on for quite a while,

but I think the judge who was actually trying the case

said that enough was enough and that he really wanted to get him into court

and that is exactly what happened.

'Finally, on the 28th of February, 2012,

'Bertie Mooney appeared in court

'and pled guilty to 38 charges of benefit fraud,

'having falsely claimed benefits of over £460,000 over two decades.'

He finally appeared in Crown Court in Manchester and he was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

The judge, in sentencing him, described him as a parasite on society,

taking money from those who actually needed it.

As part of the financial investigation, the Jaguar would be taken away from him

by the Department for Work and Pensions and sold.

The house was taken and seized and sold

and if there was any other assets,

they would endeavour to take those.

On top of all of this, Bertie Mooney was asked to pay back an additional £100,000 within six months

or risk a further two-year sentence.

So, Mooney spent years clocking up the miles on his Jag

as he cruised around the country, picking up his benefits.

Now, thanks to the hard work of fraud investigators, he's not going anywhere. He's in a jail cell.

On the plus side, he's saving loads in petrol.