0:00:02 > 0:00:04Every year, billions of pounds of our taxes are spent on
0:00:04 > 0:00:07those in genuine need of financial help.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11It's money that provides a lifeline for people who deserve our support.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13Everything was crumbling around me.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16But unfortunately, about £1 billion goes on lining
0:00:16 > 0:00:19the pockets of those who aren't entitled to it.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22This is just pure greed and nothing else.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25But those trying to cheat the system are being watched.
0:00:25 > 0:00:27We knew where to look straight away.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32Welcome to the world of Saints and Scroungers.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Saints and Scroungers shines a torch
0:00:55 > 0:00:57on the light and the dark side of the
0:00:57 > 0:01:01benefits system, and those who set out to deliberately steal
0:01:01 > 0:01:02from the public purse.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07So on one hand, you have the deserving, on the other side, the self-serving.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10It's a battle that's fought everyday across the UK.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Investigators fighting to bring fraudsters to justice
0:01:13 > 0:01:16and the saints fighting to make sure people in genuine need get
0:01:16 > 0:01:18what they are entitled to.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24Coming up on today's show -
0:01:24 > 0:01:27A benefit fraudster who spent 30 years on the run,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30using a stolen identity.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33I've covered hundreds of court cases over the years and many fraud cases,
0:01:33 > 0:01:35but as far as they go, this was one of the most bizarre.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37It was like a plot from a film.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40And a pensioner gets her life back on track,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43thanks to finally getting the support she was entitled to.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49There's no doubt in my mind that without those added benefits,
0:01:49 > 0:01:50we would never have been able to achieve
0:01:50 > 0:01:52what we've done with Dorothy.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58Making ends meet is difficult enough.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02If you're a single mum, surely you're entitled to a bit of help
0:02:02 > 0:02:05putting food on the table and keeping a roof over your head.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09But one mum in Oxford seemed to be asking for more help than most.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Meet Nina Raymont, a 59-year-old mother of two.
0:02:17 > 0:02:18After decades living abroad,
0:02:18 > 0:02:23Nina and her children returned to the UK in 2009.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Settling in Oxford, she applied for the Housing Benefit
0:02:26 > 0:02:29and Jobseeker's Allowance she was entitled to.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33But just weeks after she started receiving her benefits,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35she came to the attention of an Oxford City Council
0:02:35 > 0:02:37fraud investigator.
0:02:37 > 0:02:38Due to the nature of her job,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41the council employee has asked to remain anonymous.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45One of our housing officers had noticed that there were two people
0:02:45 > 0:02:48apparently living at the same address,
0:02:48 > 0:02:53and that they had a single common detail that just seemed really odd.
0:02:53 > 0:02:58Both of these women seemed to have a family member with the same name.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01It was enough to set alarm bells ringing for the fraud team,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05and in November 2009, the investigation got underway.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Where information suggests there may be fraud,
0:03:08 > 0:03:12I use council systems to check all our information that
0:03:12 > 0:03:14we hold as Oxford City Council.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17I gather evidence and check inconsistencies.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Looking over the initial discrepancies in this case,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27the investigator knew there could be a reasonable explanation.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31It could simply have been that there were two people
0:03:31 > 0:03:34who were totally unrelated living at a house,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36so yes, it's quite possible that could have been
0:03:36 > 0:03:38completely above board.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41The only way to find out is to check,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44and the first move in any investigation is to look
0:03:44 > 0:03:47into the backgrounds of the two claimants at the one address -
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Nina Raymont and a Sandra Forshaw.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53With Nina, it appears that she'd been living abroad
0:03:53 > 0:03:57and had returned to the UK with her two children in 2009,
0:03:57 > 0:04:01and that's when she first appears on Oxford City Council's records.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07Nina Raymont had applied to the Department of Work and Pensions
0:04:07 > 0:04:12for Jobseeker's Allowance, and was living at that address,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14and because she was getting Jobseeker's Allowance,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16that allowed her to also claim Housing Benefit.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Sandra Forshaw also appears to have resettled in the UK,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25as she started her requests for council housing
0:04:25 > 0:04:28just a few months after Nina.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Investigation manager Carol Quainton was overseeing the case.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37We investigate welfare benefit fraud.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41More recently, we have moved into and are now investigating housing
0:04:41 > 0:04:44tenancy fraud and other corporate issues as well.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49And the team at Oxford City Council don't mess about.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Last year, for example, the investigation team here in Oxford
0:04:52 > 0:04:56looked at about 1,600 benefit claims.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00As a result of the ones here in Oxford that we investigated,
0:05:00 > 0:05:05actually raised just under £700,000 of benefit
0:05:05 > 0:05:09that had been paid to claimants that they weren't entitled to
0:05:09 > 0:05:10for one reason or another.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15So the team needs to establish whether Raymont and Forshaw
0:05:15 > 0:05:17are both entitled to receive benefits.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Their initial research shows both women appear to be claiming benefits
0:05:20 > 0:05:23or asking for council assistance legitimately
0:05:23 > 0:05:26using a British identity.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29The investigators decide it's time to cut to the chase.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33The housing officer had already spoken to the landlord
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and had tentatively clarified who was living there,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and according to the landlord,
0:05:38 > 0:05:43there was just one adult female living there and paying him rent.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46That person's name was Sandra Forshaw.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49So that confirmed that something was wrong.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54So, hang on, there are two people claiming to live at the address,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57but the landlord only knows one of them.
0:05:57 > 0:05:58Time to put in a call.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03Using the housing officer, the team sits back and waits for the answers.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06He rang Sandra Forshaw to ask her about something
0:06:06 > 0:06:11in relation to her request to the council for support and help
0:06:11 > 0:06:12with her looking for housing.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14And he asked her if she knew Nina Raymont.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20And Sandra said that Nina was a friend of a friend,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and she didn't know many people in the UK,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27so that's how she knew Nina.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32It's a rather clumsy explanation, and there was more to come.
0:06:33 > 0:06:38The following day Nina Raymont rang into the council
0:06:38 > 0:06:41and said that she wanted to cancel her Housing Benefit claim
0:06:41 > 0:06:45because she had never actually lived at that address.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50She had lived throughout the time of the benefit claim in London,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54and she'd completely forgotten about her housing benefit claim.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Now it's too much of a coincidence for the fraud team.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Forshaw is called one day,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04and Raymont calls back the next to cancel her benefits.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07I got to know about the phone call later in the day.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10As a matter of course, the council keeps phone calls
0:07:10 > 0:07:13for a length of time,
0:07:13 > 0:07:17so I obtained the recording and listened to it again,
0:07:17 > 0:07:22and it was quite clear that the voices of Nina Raymont
0:07:22 > 0:07:26and Sandra Forshaw were very, very similar.
0:07:26 > 0:07:32OK, so could these two women have more in common than just an address?
0:07:32 > 0:07:34The investigators couldn't be 100% sure,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37but there is one more thing that they are certain of.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42In December 2009, Sandra Forshaw moved house, having been successful
0:07:42 > 0:07:44with the council in her application
0:07:44 > 0:07:47for improved council housing for her and her family.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Once in the new property, the claims came in thick and fast.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55In this road in Headington, Sandra Forshaw was claiming Housing Benefit
0:07:55 > 0:07:58based on her being in receipt of pension credit.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Sandra was moving, but then the investigators
0:08:02 > 0:08:04aren't standing still themselves.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Arduously studying the paper trail,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09the team gets the break they've been waiting for.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12One thing I found was that both Nina Raymont
0:08:12 > 0:08:18and Sandra Forshaw had given the same mobile number
0:08:18 > 0:08:19to a government agency.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23I also looked at handwriting comparisons
0:08:23 > 0:08:29and those things also made me think, "Yes, I'm on the right lines."
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Well, the team may think they're on the right lines,
0:08:31 > 0:08:36but as the investigation continues, so does the confusion.
0:08:36 > 0:08:38When arrested, the individual claimed that her true name
0:08:38 > 0:08:40was Sandra Forshaw.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Right, it's farewell to the fraudsters,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53and bid a warm welcome to people that we call saints,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57those in our society who help others in genuine need,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01but are too proud or don't know how to claim what is rightfully theirs.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08If you lead a busy, active life, and you're surrounded by friends and
0:09:08 > 0:09:13family, it can be hard to imagine a time when you need to ask for help.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16But all it takes is a couple of little twists in your life,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18a couple of turns of events,
0:09:18 > 0:09:23and before too long it can be you who's wondering, who do I turn to?
0:09:25 > 0:09:28It's a question 84-year-old Dorothy didn't know the answer to,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32after her day-to-day life became a struggle in 2007.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Having suffered a stroke,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37her active, independent life changed for ever.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45That's how it started.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48After her stroke, Dorothy's ability to look after herself
0:09:48 > 0:09:51and her bungalow in Croydon started to slip.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Her life took a turn for the worse,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56and she became ill and more and more isolated with each day.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01In November 2011, this led to her collapsing
0:10:01 > 0:10:05and being admitted to Croydon University hospital.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10Dorothy was admitted with a urinary tract infection.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12We feel that this was probably due to the fact
0:10:12 > 0:10:14that she wasn't able to manage her dietary requirements at home.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Rachael Colley and the avoidance team
0:10:16 > 0:10:19specialise in dealing with cases like Dorothy's.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Their job is to spot issues with people's home lives,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24so when they're discharged from hospital
0:10:24 > 0:10:27things don't continue to go downhill.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Enter Gill Cooksley.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31She's the Red Cross representative who was brought in
0:10:31 > 0:10:33to help out with Dorothy's case,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36and we'll see for ourselves what an impact she's going to make.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41We work at Croydon University Hospital
0:10:41 > 0:10:45and we run a project which helps people who for six to eight weeks
0:10:45 > 0:10:48when someone comes home from hospital.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50And Gill and her colleagues stepping in to help Dorothy
0:10:50 > 0:10:52had a ring of karma to it.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56I was a junior in the Red Cross during the war,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58because I was too young to be called up.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01So I used to go to the East Surrey Hospital
0:11:01 > 0:11:03every Saturday and Sunday,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06report to matron and ask her what I could do.
0:11:08 > 0:11:14Some of them had arthritis and couldn't write, so I'd write the letters out for them.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16You know what they say? What goes around, comes around,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19and so I've come to meet Gill to find out about the Red Cross
0:11:19 > 0:11:23and how they first got involved with Dorothy.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26How did you first find out that Dorothy needed some help?
0:11:26 > 0:11:30Dorothy was really anxious about going home, so the occupational
0:11:30 > 0:11:34therapist asked if we would come and visit Dorothy,
0:11:34 > 0:11:37primarily to actually take her to look at a residential home.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41We just went to have a look,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44with an idea that I would then help the transition.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47She decided she would like to go there,
0:11:47 > 0:11:52but for that to happen, she needed to sell her house,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56and in the time frame that we had it was too unmanageable to sell the house
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and release enough money for her to go into a home
0:11:59 > 0:12:00it wasn't possible.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03So Dorothy's hope of moving to the residential home
0:12:03 > 0:12:08just wasn't achievable and any mention of her moving back home didn't go down very well.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13Gill even visited the bungalow with Dorothy, and witnessed first hand
0:12:13 > 0:12:17just how scared she'd become of living by herself.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20Dorothy just felt absolutely shattered
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and overwhelmed with emotion when we went on the home visit.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28She managed well, but just became so quiet and withdrawn.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33And you could just tell that she was riddled with worry
0:12:33 > 0:12:36about how she was going to cope.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38The discharge date loomed, and the team knew
0:12:38 > 0:12:40they had their work cut out
0:12:40 > 0:12:43persuading her she could be independent once again.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Dorothy could not really believe that life would be different
0:12:49 > 0:12:53in her bungalow. She just felt that she would slip back
0:12:53 > 0:12:55to where she had been,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57spending a lot of time just in the bed,
0:12:57 > 0:13:00because it was the warmest place in the house for her.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03She was really fearful of using the central heating system
0:13:03 > 0:13:07and spending too much money on heating.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11Working closely with the avoidance team, Gill and volunteer Millie
0:13:11 > 0:13:15set about trying to sort out Dorothy's bungalow.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18Millie and I went to Dorothy's house and spent four or five hours
0:13:18 > 0:13:22just cleaning, trying to give it a fresh, spring-clean look.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29We also put the central heating on, which hadn't been on for months,
0:13:29 > 0:13:33and there was a horrible damp smell in the house.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Settling Dorothy back into her own home wouldn't happen overnight,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39but the team thought, with the right support,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41she could enjoy it once again.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42The house means a lot to Dorothy
0:13:42 > 0:13:47having shared it for nearly 60 years with her late husband, Ken.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50They first met when he visited the law firm she was working for.
0:13:52 > 0:13:58And it was...attracted from the very time he walked in,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02and then, we weren't on the phone, so he wrote me a letter and said
0:14:02 > 0:14:05would I like to go out with him one Sunday, and that's how it started.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Because there were no phones in those days.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Only posh people had a telephone.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12I thought he had such lovely blue eyes.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14Have you got blue eyes?
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Dorothy has good memories of life in her bungalow,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23but after months spent in a warm, friendly hospital,
0:14:23 > 0:14:24she feared being alone again,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28and this is where benefits would be crucial.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Let's talk about Dorothy's financial situation, because I imagine there's
0:14:31 > 0:14:35a lot more detective work required to get to the bottom of that.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41She was paying a high amount for her gas and electric and her
0:14:41 > 0:14:46meter reading was really low and she got a £900 rebate on her gas.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50That enabled us to know that we could get the roof repairs
0:14:50 > 0:14:53and some other things done.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55And in the week she came out of hospital,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58I applied for attendance allowance,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02so that made a tremendous difference to her income.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05She was also awarded pension credits.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Suddenly, she had enough money that we could look at going to a lunch club.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11This shift of increased income
0:15:11 > 0:15:13made a tremendous difference,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16because it meant we could help Dorothy organise her life,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19so she could make her house really comfortable
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and she could have an outlet,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25she could, you know, get to a lunch club and really enjoy herself.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31So now we have a situation where the finances are back on track.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34The point here is, I suppose, that she and her husband, together,
0:15:34 > 0:15:37have paid into the system throughout their lives,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39and so to get to this point in their life,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42- it should be there to help her.- Yeah.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48It sounds like Dorothy is getting back to her old self again
0:15:48 > 0:15:50with the right support.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52Everything the Red Cross has done
0:15:52 > 0:15:55has helped Dorothy enjoy her home and life again,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57and she couldn't agree more.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00You have your meals on wheels every day, what do you think about them?
0:16:00 > 0:16:02I think they're very good.
0:16:02 > 0:16:03What's your favourite meal?
0:16:04 > 0:16:06- Steak and kidney.- Steak and kidney?
0:16:07 > 0:16:11What about Helen and Anne that come and look after you?
0:16:11 > 0:16:17Oh, they come in the morning and see if I'm awake, check that I'm up
0:16:17 > 0:16:20and give me some breakfast if I'm not having breakfast,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23and seeing I've got something to eat.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27- Do you get on well with them? - Oh, yes. They're all very nice.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Thanks to Gill, Dorothy is now finally getting
0:16:30 > 0:16:33what she's entitled to, everything from getting new glasses
0:16:33 > 0:16:35to visiting her lunch club twice a week.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39Things happen to us as we get older. They're not always nice things.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42They can make life much more difficult.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44And money isn't always the answer,
0:16:44 > 0:16:48but sometimes, in the right situations, spent wisely
0:16:48 > 0:16:51and with the help of someone like Gill, that money can make
0:16:51 > 0:16:55the difference between having an existence and living a life.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Now let's go back to the scroungers.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05Oxford City Council's fraud investigators have been alerted
0:17:05 > 0:17:07to a possible benefit fraud.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12Two women are potentially claiming benefits from the same house.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Our first knowledge of Nina Raymont was in November 2009
0:17:16 > 0:17:19when she claimed Jobseeker's Allowance and Housing Benefit
0:17:19 > 0:17:22from an address in Headington in Oxford.
0:17:22 > 0:17:27The problem was her landlord thought he was renting to someone different.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29The tenancy for that property with the landlord
0:17:29 > 0:17:31was in the name of Sandra Forshaw.
0:17:31 > 0:17:36One thing I found was that both Nina Raymont and Sandra Forshaw
0:17:36 > 0:17:42had given the same mobile number to a government agency.
0:17:42 > 0:17:43The team's hunch, then,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47was that Nina and Sandra were the very same person,
0:17:47 > 0:17:52and they were now looking at a serious case of an identity theft.
0:17:52 > 0:17:53But the question remained,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56who was the real person and who was the fake?
0:17:58 > 0:18:00It's time to find out,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04as the amount of money claimed by the two women isn't pocket change.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Over 10,000 in pension credits
0:18:06 > 0:18:11and just over 17,000 in housing and council tax benefit.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15The team needs hard evidence that there really is a fraud going on,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17and Nina Raymont's first on their hit list.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22I requested some identity documents that had been produced
0:18:22 > 0:18:28to another government agency, and the driving licence photograph
0:18:28 > 0:18:33was compared to the photograph that Sandra Forshaw had produced
0:18:33 > 0:18:38by way of her passport, and they were clearly the same person.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43The investigators now had the definitive proof they needed.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Nina Raymont and Sandra Forshaw were one and the same!
0:18:47 > 0:18:49But which one was real?
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Further searches suggested Sandra.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58Part of the investigation will often include
0:18:58 > 0:19:03requesting credit search information about people.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07It shows us what their lifestyle is, it shows us links to addresses,
0:19:07 > 0:19:08to other people.
0:19:08 > 0:19:13Through this, I found that not only did she have bank accounts,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17but transactions on those bank accounts certainly suggested
0:19:17 > 0:19:24somebody who was moving or at least buying flights to other continents.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27All of this was showing us that there was much more
0:19:27 > 0:19:29to Sandra Forshaw than met the eye.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34This hardly sounded like someone in need of our support,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37a fact which was about to be confirmed.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42Part of it involved checking with the National Health Service,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46and this revealed that somebody by the name of Sandra Forshaw
0:19:46 > 0:19:50was living in east London, now with a different surname,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54so I sent a photocopy of one of the passport photographs
0:19:54 > 0:19:57to the local authority in the area where this third party lived.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03They visited the lady, they confirmed that in appearance
0:20:03 > 0:20:05she was a totally different person.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08So for the investigators, it now looks like the true identity
0:20:08 > 0:20:11of the scrounger is Nina Raymont,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14and Forshaw is the identity she somehow managed to steal.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18How she's done this, at this stage, is anyone's guess.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21The team hopes a search of Nina Raymont's home
0:20:21 > 0:20:23will throw some light on the matter.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28The police went in, initially ahead, arrested the lady
0:20:28 > 0:20:32who was living there in the name of Sandra Forshaw
0:20:32 > 0:20:36and I then followed on with another police officer.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40Within the house, the police did find quite a lot of documents,
0:20:40 > 0:20:47and certainly information that suggested that other applications
0:20:47 > 0:20:52were being made to get documents which would have potentially
0:20:52 > 0:20:57allowed anyone to get information
0:20:57 > 0:21:01and perhaps take on the identity of other people,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05and I think we are talking about four or five different surnames.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09Just how many identities does one scrounger need?
0:21:09 > 0:21:13It looks as if Nina is a serial ID thief up to her neck in lies,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16lies that just didn't stop.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22When arrested, the individual claimed her rightful name,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25her true name was Sandra Forshaw.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27And despite the overwhelming evidence against her,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30it looks like Nina Raymont is sticking to her guns.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34During her interviews under caution, she remains tight lipped.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38My understanding is that she chose
0:21:38 > 0:21:40to make no comment during the interviews,
0:21:40 > 0:21:43and she's perfectly within her rights to do so.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Yes, it's her right,
0:21:45 > 0:21:48but the investigators had another ace up their sleeve.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Their research showed Nina had tried to get work in a local charity shop.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55In working with the fraud investigation
0:21:55 > 0:22:00team from Job Centre Plus, we had the application form
0:22:00 > 0:22:03for her Jobseeker's Allowance
0:22:03 > 0:22:08and on that form she had declared that she was doing voluntary work
0:22:08 > 0:22:11for the charity shop in Headington, Helen And Douglas House.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16Gathering more information, we asked for the application form
0:22:16 > 0:22:19in relation to her employment,
0:22:19 > 0:22:24and subsequently, she also applied to Helen And Douglas House
0:22:24 > 0:22:27for a part-time position which was a paid position.
0:22:27 > 0:22:33So we obtained that application form, and that form gave the address
0:22:33 > 0:22:37that Sandra Forshaw was claiming Housing Benefit from.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43For the council, it was yet another piece of damning evidence
0:22:43 > 0:22:47against Nina, and they passed it all on to Thames Valley Police.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51They took Nina's job application and tested it for fingerprints.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53You've guessed it - the prints on Nina's form
0:22:53 > 0:22:57matched the lady arrested who was still claiming to be Sandra Forshaw.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Facing such conclusive evidence against her,
0:23:02 > 0:23:04Nina Raymont was charged -
0:23:04 > 0:23:07the first offence relating to lying under oath
0:23:07 > 0:23:09that she was, in fact, Forshaw.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14She appeared in court because she'd been charged with six offences.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16One offence of perjury, three offences of fraud,
0:23:16 > 0:23:20and two offences of stealing another person's identity
0:23:20 > 0:23:21and obtaining passports in that name.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27And in March 2012, at Oxford Crown Court...
0:23:27 > 0:23:30She pleaded guilty to all of the offences.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Across the benefits at the Department for Work and Pensions
0:23:35 > 0:23:36and Oxford City Council,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40Nina Raymont claimed just under £31,000
0:23:40 > 0:23:43using the name of Sandra Forshaw, and she was not entitled to it.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48And it was only in court that the whole truth came out.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Through her defence lawyers, Nina finally admitted how and why
0:23:51 > 0:23:54she'd hijacked the real Sandra Forshaw's identity.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58Court reporter Tom Ayres was there,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00covering the trial for the Oxford Mail.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02He heard Nina's explanation first hand.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07Nina Raymont's scam goes back to the early 1980s.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10In 1982, she was living in a suburb of Oxford in a flat with her partner
0:24:10 > 0:24:12and that was raided by police,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15where they found a lot of drugs in the property.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18She was put on police bail but she skipped that bail,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22and was later found confused and wandering the streets in Essex
0:24:22 > 0:24:24and was placed in a psychiatric unit.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Nina stated it was while she was a patient at the hospital
0:24:29 > 0:24:31that she shared a room with the real Sandra Forshaw,
0:24:31 > 0:24:34and there she stole some of Sandra's personal documents
0:24:34 > 0:24:38and her date of birth and then discharged herself.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42On her release from hospital, Raymont got a friend to falsely verify
0:24:42 > 0:24:44that she was Sandra Forshaw, and was therefore able
0:24:44 > 0:24:48to take out a passport in that false name.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51So the real Sandra Forshaw was just an innocent victim
0:24:51 > 0:24:53of Nina's bizarre plan.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56She never even knew that her identity had been hijacked.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02What happened for the next 27 years isn't exactly clear.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05That's the thing with identity thieves - you can't trust them!
0:25:05 > 0:25:08What we do know, though, is that Nina Raymont left the country,
0:25:08 > 0:25:13and there are records of her showing up in Guatemala in the '90s.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16When Nina Raymont moved abroad, the trail goes a little bit cold.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18We are not entirely sure what happened and what identity
0:25:18 > 0:25:19she was living under,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22but we know that she married a local man in Guatemala,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24having travelling from Europe to America,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27and they had a daughter together and adopted a son.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31The marriage crumbled though, and in 2009 she returned back to Oxford.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Here, she found her original birth certificate,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37her real birth certificate and took out ID documents
0:25:37 > 0:25:38in that name as well,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40so at that time, she had two documents.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44She had her real name and she also had the identity of Sandra Forshaw.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49So, nearly 30 years after the original identity theft,
0:25:49 > 0:25:54Nina couldn't help herself and decided to cheat the system.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56What on earth was she thinking?
0:25:57 > 0:26:00I've covered hundreds of court cases over the years and many fraud cases,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03but as far as they go, this was one of the most bizarre.
0:26:03 > 0:26:04It was like a plot from a film.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08It would appear Nina had lived her life abroad
0:26:08 > 0:26:11using the Sandra Forshaw identity.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Whether she'd done this because of the serious drug charges
0:26:14 > 0:26:16she faced in the UK is anyone's guess,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20but the judge ignored these charges in court and sentenced
0:26:20 > 0:26:23her for the benefit crimes she'd committed in the here and now.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28The judge sentenced her to a custodial sentence for a year,
0:26:28 > 0:26:33which was suspended for two years, and she was also ordered
0:26:33 > 0:26:36to do 250 hours of unpaid work.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39On top of that, the courts have tried to claw back
0:26:39 > 0:26:42some of the tens of thousands of pounds that Nina Raymont stole
0:26:42 > 0:26:44using the name of Sandra Forshaw.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47She's already paid back just under three grand,
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and the investigators won't stop till they've got the rest.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54What a story, what a life.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59Nina Raymont spent 30 years running away from who she really was,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03But in the end, it was her own greed that finally caught up with her.