0:00:01 > 0:00:07In this country, the money we pay as taxes goes to provide essential services that we rely upon every day
0:00:07 > 0:00:13and it's there to give us a safety net if things go wrong or life takes an unexpected turn.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17This help comes in the shape of vital financial support that improves lives.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21At one point, I just thought I can't do this no more.
0:00:21 > 0:00:28But there are some people who see that money as something they deserve, even when they don't.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Clearly, she was able to make significant profits.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35This is the world of Saints And Scroungers.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Saints And Scroungers takes a look at the welfare system,
0:01:01 > 0:01:07those who pinch from the public purse and those who don't even realise what's available to them.
0:01:07 > 0:01:14Every day across the UK, teams of investigators identify and bring fraudsters to justice
0:01:14 > 0:01:18while the saints make sure those who are in need get what they're entitled to.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Coming up on today's show...
0:01:24 > 0:01:28A multi-agency raid on a lock-up reveals more than expected.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33This was the first time we found this activity linked to a trademarks investigation.
0:01:33 > 0:01:38And a lad brought back from the brink of a life of crime or even death.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Carl always said, "James, get a grip of yourself."
0:01:45 > 0:01:51Del Boy and Rodney, a couple of lovable rogues selling their gear down the market.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Well, this is the market.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56So where are they?
0:01:57 > 0:01:59OK, "A", it's a Wednesday.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02There is no market on a Wednesday.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05And "B", these days you'd be more likely
0:02:05 > 0:02:09to find Del and Rodney selling their dodgy gear on the internet.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16Online auctions are a brilliant way of supplementing your income
0:02:16 > 0:02:20by getting a few quid for some of your unwanted items.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25But when you start buying items to sell online at a profit, it's no longer a little trade-in.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29You become a trader and it's your legal responsibility
0:02:29 > 0:02:32to register as a trader with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36In November 2009, 34-year-old Caroline Urua
0:02:36 > 0:02:41had a little one-to-one lesson in the finer points of this
0:02:41 > 0:02:44from Justin Miller, an investigator for Southwark Council.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53We were initially contacted about this case
0:02:53 > 0:02:58when the UK Border Agency seized a consignment of hair straighteners at Heathrow Airport.
0:02:58 > 0:03:04They told us they were destined for a Caroline Urua at an address in the Old Kent Road.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Now, this Caroline might have just been hoping to make a quick bob.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12Maybe she's got a very full head of hair.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15The officers already had their own suspicions.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21The investigation team thought that because of the amount of items she had tried to import,
0:03:21 > 0:03:24it was highly likely that these weren't for personal use.
0:03:24 > 0:03:30That was by the by as the UK Border Agency were pretty convinced they were also counterfeit.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35The UK BA seized the goods, so they never actually got sent to Caroline.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Justin and his team were now seriously interested in Caroline
0:03:39 > 0:03:44and wanted to see whether the hair straightener business could be figured out.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Taking into account that there was likely to be more items there,
0:03:48 > 0:03:53we obtained a warrant from the courts, so we could gain entry to the premises and carry out a search.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56So, in December 2009, a warrant was issued
0:03:56 > 0:03:58and the team struck gold, or had they?
0:03:58 > 0:04:02When officers started searching the flat,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05they found a lot of items which were very suspicious.
0:04:05 > 0:04:11They seized them because they suspected they were counterfeit. That included 850 items of make-up.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13And they weren't just any brands.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17These were high-class brands like Chanel, Christian Dior,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20Ugg, Lancome, Mac, Gucci
0:04:20 > 0:04:23and even top-selling hair specialist, ghd.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25The question was - were they the real deal?
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Once we returned from Caroline's,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31first we had to establish that the goods were counterfeit.
0:04:31 > 0:04:38We suspected that they were, but we needed the trademark owners to confirm to us 100% that they were.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42ghd confirmed to us that the items were indeed counterfeit.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45And it wasn't just ghd.
0:04:45 > 0:04:51Brand representatives from the majority of the seized goods also confirmed that they were fakes.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54This is all sounding a little bit dodgy.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57As well as the goods, officers found a laptop there.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02We suspected that might contain evidence, so that was seized.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Part of the investigation was to look where Caroline was selling these items.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11We established at a very early stage that she was selling them via online auction houses.
0:05:11 > 0:05:17The team now suspected that Caroline was flogging fakes for a living and brought her in.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23We carried out an interview with Caroline under caution and we asked her about the counterfeit goods.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26She confirmed they were her goods and she was selling them.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31The investigators wouldn't let this one drop and took items from her address as evidence,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35but when the officers returned Caroline's personal possessions,
0:05:35 > 0:05:41they happened to spot her binning some shredded paperwork and confiscated that as evidence.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45One roll of sticky tape later, it turned out to be a financial bond.
0:05:45 > 0:05:51What we actually found was Caroline had savings of at least £53,000 and she was claiming benefits.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54We're not just talking a little bit of benefits here.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Caroline was getting incapacity benefit, working tax credit,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02child benefit, housing benefit and council tax benefit.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07Unsurprisingly, a fraud investigator from her local council started having a dig.
0:06:12 > 0:06:19According to the council's records, Caroline was a single mum claiming income support from the DWP.
0:06:19 > 0:06:24As a result, she was also claiming council tax and housing benefit from us
0:06:24 > 0:06:26which amounted to £370 a week.
0:06:26 > 0:06:32That's £19,000 a year on top of the £53,000 in the bank
0:06:32 > 0:06:36and the potential trading of counterfeit goods on the internet.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42We wanted to find out a bit more about Caroline and her background,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45so we spoke to our colleagues in the Revenue and Benefits Team
0:06:45 > 0:06:51and they were very interested in the fact that we had found an account with £53,000 in it.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56So we've got a case that was initiated by the UK Border Agency
0:06:56 > 0:06:58with evidence from the HMRC.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02We've got a pretty suspicious-looking benefits claim
0:07:02 > 0:07:07and an enormous savings account being investigated by Justin Miller from Southwark Council.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11They were able to take steps to stop the benefit being paid to her.
0:07:11 > 0:07:18Benefits are meant to be paid for people who need them, not for people who have got savings of £53,000.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Well, that's one problem taken care of.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26But it was at this stage that the investigation took a different turn.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32The computer forensic expert identified documents which look like they were being used in a fraud.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36We were finding forged bank statements, scans of people's passports,
0:07:36 > 0:07:42details of companies registered with Companies House. It was more than just someone into counterfeiting.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47OK, let me get this straight.
0:07:47 > 0:07:52We've got a benefits cheat who was claiming over 19 grand a year
0:07:52 > 0:07:55with a stash of counterfeit luxury goods,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58a savings account with 53 grand in it
0:07:58 > 0:08:03and now forged bank accounts and undeclared businesses.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07While we were carrying out our investigation,
0:08:07 > 0:08:12our colleagues in the Benefits Team started investigating Caroline's background.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16They started looking into her financial background.
0:08:16 > 0:08:21They obtained copies of her bank statements and they were able to share those with us.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26We found that Caroline was paying for a self-store unit down the Old Kent Road.
0:08:26 > 0:08:32We thought we'd get a warrant because it was highly likely we would find more evidence in there.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34More evidence?
0:08:34 > 0:08:38She's already siphoned off around £190,000.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40How much worse can this get?
0:08:43 > 0:08:49For now, it's farewell to the fraudsters and hello to the people we call our saints,
0:08:49 > 0:08:54those in society who help others in genuine need, but who are too proud
0:08:54 > 0:08:59or don't know how to claim what's rightfully theirs.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Young people... They're terrible, aren't they?
0:09:04 > 0:09:08If you read some newspapers, you might think so.
0:09:08 > 0:09:14In fact, you might start to believe that all of society's ills stem from people under the age of 18.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17But then that would be without understanding the fact
0:09:17 > 0:09:23that sometimes those young people come from very difficult backgrounds and from very underprivileged areas.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25So here's a question.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30If that's you, can you turn your life around and make a difference?
0:09:32 > 0:09:36That's a question that was faced by 21-year-old James.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41At the age of 11, he started to find himself getting into quite a spot of bother.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45My mum and my stepdad, they wasn't pulling in a great turnover
0:09:45 > 0:09:48and the money that was coming in was just enough to survive on.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Me and my brother really wasn't up to no good.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55I live next door to a school, so we'd go in there at weekends,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59climb roofs, rip off lead and smash windows,
0:09:59 > 0:10:04just doing teenager kind of things, which obviously are criminal things,
0:10:04 > 0:10:06but we didn't really see it as that.
0:10:06 > 0:10:12And exactly the sort of things you'd expect to read about in those papers,
0:10:12 > 0:10:14so why aren't kids like James in school?
0:10:14 > 0:10:18I wasn't academically for school. I couldn't read or write or spell.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23Them kind of things I just struggled with and when you're in a class of 30 people
0:10:23 > 0:10:28and these guys are flying ahead of you and I'm kind of behind...
0:10:28 > 0:10:31In primary school, I was really struggling.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33I was just really angry.
0:10:33 > 0:10:37It doesn't sound like a great start to school life.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41I got excluded a couple of times in primary school.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45My main one when I got permanently excluded, I think that kind of hit home a bit
0:10:45 > 0:10:49because I was used to just getting away with things.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54When I went to secondary school, a big fight kind of broke out
0:10:54 > 0:10:58and the three of us got permanently excluded for it.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03'This sounds like a kid about to go off the rails. Time for a little chat.'
0:11:03 > 0:11:07At the age of 11, it sounds like not only have they given up on you,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11but more importantly, you've given up on yourself?
0:11:11 > 0:11:15How old was I? I think I was about 12, 13.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19I think I robbed a Galaxy bar or something silly like that.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23I got outside the shop, a guy came out, grabbed our group, searched us all.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27He took us back into the office. He said, "I'm calling the police. You've been robbing from the shop."
0:11:27 > 0:11:33'To make matters worse, James was carrying a penknife, so he and his friend were arrested.'
0:11:35 > 0:11:37I remember being in the cell for 16 hours
0:11:37 > 0:11:40and seeing the look on my mum's face...this ain't good kind of thing.
0:11:40 > 0:11:47'James had been in trouble before, but this was shocking for his mother Valerie.'
0:11:47 > 0:11:51My heart just went bang and I said, "James, what are you doing?"
0:11:51 > 0:11:55My head just went everywhere and I said, "Right, you're grounded for the week, James."
0:11:57 > 0:12:02'This was serious and things had spiralled way out of control.'
0:12:02 > 0:12:04OK, so school's thrown you out.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Is there any kind of education after that?
0:12:07 > 0:12:11I got referred to a PRU, which is a Pupil Referral Unit.
0:12:11 > 0:12:17That's where all the naughty kids go, pretty much all the kids who have been permanently excluded.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20I remember being at home when I got a knock at the door.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22I remember seeing a guy there with...
0:12:22 > 0:12:25quite a smart kind of guy, big built, bald head, a folder.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29"What's this? CID?" I opened the door, he said, "Is your mum here?"
0:12:29 > 0:12:34I got my mum who came down. Basically, he said, "Hi, my name's Carl.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38"I work for an organisation called Enthusiasm For Young People."
0:12:38 > 0:12:42I was like, "It's 8.30. Why are you knocking on my door?"
0:12:42 > 0:12:44"We've got a youth club on that's on till ten."
0:12:44 > 0:12:47I think you had to be 14 and a half or something like that.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51I was just under age. He actually lied to get me in.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54It was like a nightclub.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59No alcohol, obviously. It was dark, strobe lighting, loud music,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01people dancing and people having fun.
0:13:01 > 0:13:08- So he actually bent the rules for you?- Yeah.- Did that have an impression on you?- Yeah, massive.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10I thought this guy's all right.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14It sounds like the first time someone's taking a risk, sticking their neck out for you.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19'So this youth club sounds like a better place for a 13-year-old lad to be,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22'rather than out on the street making mischief.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27'Why was James head-hunted to join this youth club and what is Enthusiasm?'
0:13:27 > 0:13:31We knew there were several kids
0:13:31 > 0:13:34that were identified who needed that support.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37James came up on our radar.
0:13:37 > 0:13:43So, basically, we got James's name sent to us and we got his address.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47"Can you go and try and engage with this kid? Can you see if you can help?"
0:13:48 > 0:13:52'One of Joe's team, Carl, was assigned to look out for James.'
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Carl is this presence in your life
0:13:55 > 0:14:01that is opening the door and saying there are other ways to do this, other ways to lead your life?
0:14:01 > 0:14:05When you go to school, if you had a rubbish day at home, they don't know that.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09He was letting them know why I might be the way I am.
0:14:09 > 0:14:15So him having been through a lot of the same experiences and further than you'd gone,
0:14:15 > 0:14:21he had the authority to talk to you about what you were going through and that made the difference.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26Yeah, so through school I got an E in English, E in French,
0:14:26 > 0:14:30four GCSEs in Science, I got two Ds, I think a B and a C.
0:14:30 > 0:14:34I was happy. I remember showing Carl. He's like, "Yeah, I'm proud of you."
0:14:34 > 0:14:39I've never heard them kind of words, someone saying, "I'm proud of you."
0:14:39 > 0:14:42The journey that you'd taken to get grades at GCSE
0:14:42 > 0:14:48when the inside of a jail cell was looking like the most likely environment for you
0:14:48 > 0:14:52from the age of 12, 13, that is a big deal.
0:14:52 > 0:14:57That's where he was speaking to his boss, "We've got this young person. What can we do?
0:14:57 > 0:15:03That's where Joe and Paul, they came up with a programme called Youth Academy.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07It was an option to see how to become a youth worker.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09You know what I'm saying?
0:15:09 > 0:15:10It was like a year's kind of course
0:15:10 > 0:15:12where we got shown the ins and outs.
0:15:12 > 0:15:18'So James was given a chance by Enthusiasm to be able to use his past experience,
0:15:18 > 0:15:22'both the good and the bad, in a positive way for the future.
0:15:22 > 0:15:29'And it's people like James who provide an important role model for kids in his own home town.'
0:15:29 > 0:15:33I think an absence of positive male role models is massive, massive.
0:15:33 > 0:15:41The breakdown of actually people being able to get jobs impacts on why we have these problems.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43And if you've been brought up in a situation
0:15:43 > 0:15:48where the people who brought you up didn't know what they were doing, what are you handing down?
0:15:48 > 0:15:53'So the charity had designed this course to train mentors just like Carl
0:15:53 > 0:15:57'to be moral guides to kids from the community.'
0:15:57 > 0:15:59Can we talk about your brother?
0:15:59 > 0:16:03My brother was really close with me because he grew up with me.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06We shared a room and we wore the same T-shirt.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11If I got into trouble, he got into trouble, so we was a unit.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13We experienced everything together.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15I remember being away with work.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19I remember it was... I think it was ten o'clock at night.
0:16:19 > 0:16:24One of the youth workers had to go to the office to answer the phone.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28He goes, "James, your Auntie Marcia is on the phone." "It's about Alex."
0:16:28 > 0:16:32I'm like, "What has he done now? Has he got arrested?"
0:16:32 > 0:16:34She goes, "Oh, he's died."
0:16:34 > 0:16:38She goes, "Oh, he's committed suicide."
0:16:38 > 0:16:40And that word "suicide".
0:16:40 > 0:16:43I think I could have dealt with it if he got hit by a car,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47but suicide, that's taking your own life.
0:16:47 > 0:16:52- Could you make any sense of it? - He's made a choice. Every choice you do comes with a consequence.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57If you're happy with that choice which he clearly was, I've got to accept that.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00'Having found a way to accept his brother's death
0:17:00 > 0:17:02'and stay on the right track,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05'James then faced yet more tragedy...
0:17:07 > 0:17:10'..this time involving his friend and mentor Carl.'
0:17:10 > 0:17:12I got a phone call from his wife.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16His car had veered off the road, crashed into a tree and he's died.
0:17:16 > 0:17:23I thought, "Is this the way my life is, everything around me, everything good around me just dies?"
0:17:23 > 0:17:29I lost my brother and I lost the closest thing I could probably call a brother to me.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32And I was just lost. You know what I'm saying?
0:17:32 > 0:17:37'Carl had gone and with him went the support structure he had created for James,
0:17:37 > 0:17:43'but James still found strength in some of the things that Carl had taught him.'
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Carl always said, "James, get a grip of yourself and get back on your feet.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50"All through life you'll be knocked down."
0:17:50 > 0:17:54For that period of my life, I'm thankful that I met him
0:17:54 > 0:17:59because in some ways, if he didn't come about, who knows where I'd be?
0:17:59 > 0:18:04I know how much it means to be a voice for somebody who ain't got a voice
0:18:04 > 0:18:10or to be that shoulder for someone to cry on or that person who stands up for somebody.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14Sometimes I might be wrong, but I know.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19'The support structure provided by Enthusiasm gave James the strength to help not just himself,
0:18:19 > 0:18:24'but also his mother who during these tragedies had also suffered from a number of strokes.'
0:18:24 > 0:18:29I'm proud of James. He's gone that far.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Keep doing it. That's all I've got to say, James.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37If you want to be the manager, keep doing it. I love him.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41I really, really love him to bits.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46'James has been saved from a life of being supported by the state, either on benefits or in jail,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49'and he's earning money thanks to Enthusiasm.'
0:18:53 > 0:18:58I don't think I've ever heard a story of someone turning their life around so dramatically
0:18:58 > 0:18:59in such a short space of time
0:18:59 > 0:19:04and the reassuring thing is that James seems to know that it's not a fairy tale.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07He's got to work hard at this day after day
0:19:07 > 0:19:12if he's going to honour the memory of the brother and mentor that he lost along the way.
0:19:12 > 0:19:18It's also nice to realise that the experiences that James has had and the mistakes he's made
0:19:18 > 0:19:23can help to serve a new generation of kids growing up
0:19:23 > 0:19:26that he can mentor here in Derbyshire.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36So take an unemployed single mother claiming every type of benefit that's being offered to her,
0:19:36 > 0:19:41add shedloads of counterfeit goods, a bulging bank account
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and a number of businesses and passports,
0:19:45 > 0:19:46and what do you get?
0:19:47 > 0:19:51Guaranteed work for weeks if you're an investigator.
0:19:54 > 0:20:00Caroline Urua had been claiming incapacity, working tax, child, housing and council tax benefits,
0:20:00 > 0:20:04amounting to a total of £190,000 over ten years
0:20:04 > 0:20:09when the seizure by the UK Border Agency of a box of hair straighteners
0:20:09 > 0:20:13kick-started a massive, multi-agency investigation.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18Southwark Council raided her home, seizing fake goods and a laptop.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23The investigation got to the stage
0:20:23 > 0:20:26where we were investigating the counterfeit goods,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29the Benefits Team were investigating the fact
0:20:29 > 0:20:33that Caroline had been claiming benefits she wasn't entitled to,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36and we also had the computer forensically examined.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41The examiner said, "Come and have a look. There's something on here."
0:20:41 > 0:20:46What, I mean, something other than the fake goods business? What next?
0:20:46 > 0:20:51The analyst showed us a lot of the documents that he'd found on the computer.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57There was a mixture of Word documents and PDF documents, either bank statements or utility bills.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00But they seemed to be the same sort of transaction,
0:21:00 > 0:21:06so a bank statement would have the same transactions on, but with different people's names.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10Sounds to me like a bit more than just creative accounting
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and the team at Southwark thought so too.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17This is an example of some of the bank statements we actually found.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22There's a number of transactions and it's a Halifax bank account.
0:21:22 > 0:21:28If we look at the next one, again it's exactly the same transactions, a different person's address.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32But this time it's in the NatWest.
0:21:32 > 0:21:38But if we scroll down, we'll actually see there's still a reference to Halifax PLC.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42When we actually look up and click on the NatWest logo,
0:21:42 > 0:21:47if we remove it, we actually find there's a Halifax logo underneath it.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50So what is going on?
0:21:50 > 0:21:55An investigation that started with dodgy make-up and benefit fraud is growing by the minute.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00The team knew there was more to Caroline's scam than met the eye.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04We'd done a number of investigations in the past,
0:22:04 > 0:22:09but this was the first time we found this kind of activity linked to a trademarks investigation.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13It just didn't ring true that it was linked to that kind of offence,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16so we thought there was something more to it,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19but we knew we were going to be prosecuting Caroline
0:22:19 > 0:22:25and we would then do a proceeds of crime confiscation, so my next step as the financial investigator
0:22:25 > 0:22:29was to obtain production orders on all of her accounts.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33And when he says all her accounts, he's talking about over 30 of them
0:22:33 > 0:22:37with a combined balance of £1.7 million
0:22:37 > 0:22:40and no evidence of a Lottery win.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45When we started looking at these transactions,
0:22:45 > 0:22:50what we found was that there's £1.7 million-worth of transactions.
0:22:50 > 0:22:56Yet this was also a woman claiming housing benefit, money reserved for people struggling to pay their rent.
0:22:56 > 0:22:591.2 million were contra-entries
0:22:59 > 0:23:04where it had gone from one account to another account to another account,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07so fresh money into the account was about £500,000.
0:23:07 > 0:23:13The reason why it had gone from one account to another account is a typical money-laundering technique
0:23:13 > 0:23:17to disguise the provenance of where the money has actually come from.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22When we informed Caroline that we had executed a warrant on her storage unit,
0:23:22 > 0:23:28she became very concerned about how the investigation was going and what we were going to find out.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33She said to the investigating officer, "I might just leave the country."
0:23:33 > 0:23:39At this stage, I was getting a bit worried that the money might actually go with her.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41What was making Caroline so twitchy?
0:23:41 > 0:23:46When we looked in the storage unit, we found more ghd hair straighteners,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50we found about £20,000-worth of counterfeit software,
0:23:50 > 0:23:55we found an actual passport identical to one of the scans found on her computer
0:23:55 > 0:24:00and also a chequebook and banking documentation relating to a shop selling hair products.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Caroline had been well and truly caught out
0:24:03 > 0:24:08and court is where she found herself, beginning with the Inner London Crown Court,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12facing charges relating to the products in the lock-up.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16She pleaded guilty and she was sentenced
0:24:16 > 0:24:19to eight months in prison, suspended for 12 months.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23She also had to do 140 hours' community service.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28OK, that's the products dealt with. What about these bank accounts?
0:24:28 > 0:24:34Part of the restraint order required Caroline to tell the court of all the accounts she had.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38We found another two accounts that she hadn't mentioned to the court
0:24:38 > 0:24:41and these had a combined balance of £34,000.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47The fact that she tried to conceal two accounts meant that she was prosecuted for contempt of court
0:24:47 > 0:24:52and as a result, she received a custodial sentence of six months, suspended for six months.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58So, two sentences, eight months and six months, both suspended,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01but on top of this, there was a proceeds of crime investigation
0:25:01 > 0:25:05to try to recover some of the money made illegally.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09The result? She's got to pay back £107,000.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12And while we're talking of money,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15what about all that money in her accounts?
0:25:15 > 0:25:18According to the council's records,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Caroline was a single mum claiming income support from the DWP.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26As a result, she was also claiming council tax
0:25:26 > 0:25:30and housing benefit from us which amounted to £370 a week.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34We were extremely interested to find that she was earning an income
0:25:34 > 0:25:37and had a bond in her name of in excess of £50,000,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41neither of which had been declared on her benefit claim form.
0:25:41 > 0:25:46She told us that she did have a child and that she had been trading online since 2009.
0:25:46 > 0:25:52All the accounts that were identified, she reported as being her boyfriend's,
0:25:52 > 0:25:56even though he was living in Nigeria and couldn't have opened them
0:25:56 > 0:25:58and they were in her name.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03In total, she had overclaimed £13,000
0:26:03 > 0:26:06of housing benefits and council tax benefits.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09She wasn't entitled to that benefit.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Following on from the interview, we had confirmed sufficient facts
0:26:13 > 0:26:16to be able to take the case to court.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21She was charged with five acts of dishonesty under the Social Security Act.
0:26:21 > 0:26:27She initially pleaded not guilty, but on the first day of the full trial, she changed her plea to "guilty".
0:26:27 > 0:26:32She was sentenced to 12 weeks' imprisonment for each matter, suspended for 18 months.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35In addition, she had 120 hours of unpaid work.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Caroline was charged on five counts,
0:26:38 > 0:26:43specifically failing to declare a change in circumstance to Southwark Council
0:26:43 > 0:26:46and the Department for Work and Pensions,
0:26:46 > 0:26:51also with making false representations to the banks.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Phew, what a case! It's enough to make your hair curl.