Episode 3 Saints and Scroungers

In this country the money we pay as taxes goes to provide essential

services that we rely upon every day.

And it's also there to give us a safety net

if things go wrong or life takes an unexpected turn.

This help comes as vital support that improves lives.

At one point, I just thought, "This is it.

"I can't do this no more."

But there are some people who see that money

as something they deserve, even when they don't.

Clearly she was able to make significant profit.

This is the world of Saints and Scroungers.

Saints and Scroungers shines a light on those in the benefits system.

On one side, we've got the deserving,

on the other, the self-serving.

Every day across the UK,

teams of investigators identify and bring fraudsters to justice,

while the saints make sure those in need

get whatever they're entitled to.

Coming up on today's show...

a multi-agency raid on a fraudster

hiding behind multiple personalities.

There's no explanation

that somebody should have that amount of cash in a safe

when they're on benefits.

And a young lad just trying to get a head start.

I was really down.

I just thought to myself, "I need a job."

Trying to bring up kids is tough.

Trying to do it by yourself makes a hard job even harder.

But then, luckily, there is financial support

for people trying to bring up kids on their own, and it's there

so that there is a roof over their head and food on the table.

One single dad from Essex may have just forgotten that.

And there's a range of support available for single parents,

from Income Support to Housing Benefit.

So, take Olasupo Ahmed Ogunsanya - mercifully just known as Ahmed.

When his wife gave birth,

he probably thought his life was complete.

He probably never expected her to up sticks four months later,

disappear to South Africa

and leave him to bring up their newborn baby alone.

As a stay-at-home single dad, this network of benefits

was something that Ahmed desperately needed.

So, in 2006, he applied to the Department of Work and Pensions

for Income Support.

And they paid it, and because of this,

he was also entitled to Housing Benefit

from Thurrock Council to help.

But it's the duty of the council to check that all the details tally.

This Ahmed Ogunsanya's first claim with Thurrock Council

was in July 2006, when he made a claim for himself

and his four-month-old daughter

for a property in Chalk Court, which is in Grays.

The total amount of benefit he was getting per week was about £209.

In August 2007, Ahmed and his daughter

moved house and he transferred his benefits claims

to the new address - Colman Close, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex.

While processing the paperwork for Ahmed's new address,

some discrepancies were noted on the electoral register,

so a representative from Thurrock Council decided to follow it up.

It was when the visiting officer went out to see him

that she became suspicious for a number of reasons.

The first was that the electoral register had come back showing names

on the claim that weren't known to us at the claim address.

It seems that as well as Ahmed, another two people

were registered as living at this single-occupancy address -

Malcolm Jones and Hazel Ogunsanya.

Hold on, Ogunsanya...

Yeah, I've heard that before.

When she went to knock the door,

the door was answered by a woman who claimed to be a baby-sitter

who'd travelled from Milton Keynes to look after his child,

which didn't seem to make a lot of sense economically,

or in any other way.

And by the look of the car in the driveway,

this baby-sitter wasn't in need of pocket money.

When they went to the property on the first occasion,

there was two high-value vehicles parked on the drive.

Now, for somebody that's on a low income,

or on some form of benefits, it's quite difficult to afford them,

and it kind of highlights to them that there may be a problem.

She maintained she was a friend, a baby-sitter,

and she had travelled from Milton Keynes

to look after the child.

I suppose you would need a car... But it does seem a bit odd.

Yes, it was fairly quick with background checks

that are normally done at the start of an investigation.

The initial inquiries are made

with regards to credit reference agencies, land registry checks,

electoral registry checks,

which come out on the credit checks as well.

And land registry checks showed that the Ahmeds' landlady

was a Miss Matanki.

Maybe she might be able to shed some light on the situation.

The finances that were going through the property

related mostly to Hazel Matanki.

So hold your horses - Miss Matanki, the landlady...

was called Hazel?

And the woman on the electoral roll is Hazel Ogunsanya?

Bit of a coincidence, isn't it?

Anyway, back to the finances.

The amount of income that was going through them,

when we did the financial checks,

was clearly not what they'd declared.

Hazel Matanki also had no other links to any other property...

financially.

OK, so...we've got Ahmed -

a single father living alone with his daughter.

We've got a Hazel Matanki,

she's the owner of Colman Close, who doesn't live there

and doesn't appear to own another property.

Don't know where she lives, in fact.

Then we've got Hazel Ogunsanya,

who, according to the electoral roll lives at Colman Close but shouldn't,

and might be either a wife or sister of Ahmed.

And then there's Malcolm Jones.

No idea who he is at all.

But he is the third person listed on the electoral roll.

We knew about Hazel Matanki as the landlady only.

There was no links to her being Hazel Ogunsanya.

Hazel Ogunsanya was linked to the address

but there was actually one year, to the day,

difference in date of birth, which was highly unusual.

You're telling me. Same first name, same birthday.

And what the fraud team discovers next

makes the mystery deepen even further.

Hazel Ogunsanya and Ahmed Ogunsanya had a joint bank account together,

which kind of arouses suspicion as to,

why would you have that with a relative that lives elsewhere?

Since he had made his claim

for Housing Benefit and council tax benefit,

there was stuff that had been applied for

during that period of time

that would indicate she was still at the property.

The information that we'd obtained

from the start of the investigation led me to believe

that they were one of the same.

Hazel Ogunsanya and Hazel Matanki were one of the same.

Well, that explains that little mystery,

but I reckon we need to find out who this Hazel Matanki/Ogunsanya is.

So, let's start with Ogunsanya.

Hazel had started claiming benefit from us in August 2009

at another property, and the checks that we made on her

threw up the fact that she was linked,

associated through finances, with Ahmed.

She claimed to be a single woman,

with no children, unemployed, claiming benefit.

She was identified during the investigation,

and was also linked to the claim address in Coleman Close.

OK, so, what about the Matanki alias?

Hazel Matanki was registered

as living at Blackshots Lane in Grays,

which is where her claim for Housing Benefit, council tax benefit

and Jobseeker's Allowance was registered.

Oh. So, one Hazel in two addresses, and two lots of benefits.

There are more questions than answers.

Land Registry checks on Blackshots Lane

showed that the property was owned by what appeared to be

a member of Ahmed Ogunsanya's family.

There's no reason why Ahmed Ogunsanya

would have his landlady living at his parents' address.

When you've got that amount of evidence,

you then have to look at what steps you can take

to push the matter forward,

and where you need that final piece of evidence from.

So, Ahmed, the dumped single dad relying on benefits

to feed his baby girl.

I'm not sure that washes any more.

So, what IS the relationship between Ahmed and his landlady, Hazel?

I reckon someone might have to pay Ahmed - and Hazel -

another little visit.

We made the application for

an arrest and search of both properties simultaneously.

Next, we meet some of the thousands of men and women

all over the UK who are too proud to ask for benefits -

and the people who help them to claim what they deserve.

In our eyes, they're all saints.

When you've been around the block a few times,

it's easy to forget how daunting it can be to look for your first job.

Every setback can feel like a slap in the face,

and every hurdle can appear huge -

as one teenager knows only too well.

My name's Christian Gonzalez.

I'm 18 years old and I live in Tulse Hill, south London.

Christian left school with a clutch of GCSEs and an A2 in Spanish,

but his plans after that differed from those of his parents.

I basically wanted to earn money. My parents always thought that,

that you had to go to uni to be, basically, successful.

So, I tried to make them think differently, as in,

I could be doing an apprenticeship,

earning money and learning at the same time.

I always wanted to earn my money,

because I was getting...growing tired of asking my parents for money.

As hard as he tried to stand on his own two feet

and begin an apprenticeship, the level of competition

made Christian totally demoralised.

I went for an apprenticeship in a big company.

And that's when I saw that, well,

the people there had qualifications left, right and centre.

When it came to my introduction, obviously I felt like a...

like a fool, basically.

A year after leaving college, and still no prospect of work,

he was losing hope. But with help from his family,

he started to put his plan for the future into place.

My auntie took me to Brixton, and she took me into the Connections.

So I spoke to a lady, and she was offering

a business and administration apprenticeship.

She gave me the offer of £75 a week. and I'd be getting a qualification.

So I jumped at the opportunity.

An NVQ, the very qualification Christian needed

to secure his future.

Part of the apprenticeship was a work placement,

but no sooner had it started than the whole thing stopped.

Why?

The second week back, they said that

the Government just stopped, like,

"They're not giving us any more funding."

So, with almost no notice at all,

the apprenticeship that you're following,

that you've given your time to and committed to, disappears.

'With such a massive knock-back,

'Christian's confidence was at an all-time low.'

I was really down - lazy, um, not bothered, basically.

And just needed, basically, er, to get a job.

I'd hear my parents having arguments about it,

like in the morning - "This boy, he needs to get out of his bed.

"He needs to go find a job. It's ridiculous." Like,

"He's not staying. He's going to go clean some toilets or something

"if that's the case, because he's not staying unemployed."

At the end of her tether,

Christian's mum took control of the situation.

She said, "Look, I've found a Connections magazine,

"and it says, er...

"'Family mosaic, Pathways to Work, apprentices needed.'"

Another advert, another glimmer of hope,

but with a string of rejections behind him,

would Christian have the confidence and skills

to stand out from the crowd?

We've been offering apprentices

as part of our employment service for the last seven years.

It's a level two, which is equivalent to five GCSEs.

It's giving them the opportunity to get those qualifications

but in a way that suits them,

and also while they're able to earn a wage, as well.

Brilliant. But I don't quite get it.

They ARE a housing association, right?

So, first and foremost, we're providing homes for people,

and going beyond that, we really want to support the community.

So we have a youth academy,

we have older people's befriending services,

we have the employment arm, we have benefit maximisation.

Which sounds just like what Christian needed.

Maybe, at last, his luck was about to change.

He got an interview - great news!

But with so many bad experiences in the past,

how was this one going to go?

They interviewed me,

and I asked questions that I learnt from my past experience

and, yeah, it went well.

I shook his hand,

and he said, "Yeah, welcome to the team. We've accepted you

"if you want to accept the job." "Definitely."

After all the setbacks you'd had before that,

that must've been a fantastic moment.

Not so much for me. Well, yeah - I was proud for myself,

but I was more proud when I saw my parents' reaction.

My auntie, as well.

He's not here, necessarily, for the salary.

He knows he needs a qualification.

And in a year's time, he'll have a glowing CV

and he'll be able to go out into the workforce

and hopefully get an excellent job.

Tell me about your mum and dad. What do they think of this?

Really happy for me.

They always show off to their friends, saying,

"Look, my son's working here."

They show off the Connections Magazine, like,

"Look - he's on the front cover!"

When I see them doing that, it makes me feel chuffed.

THEY LAUGH

So where would Christian be now if he hadn't got this apprenticeship?

Maybe he would have found something else.

But maybe he would have become so discouraged

that he would've thought,

"Actually, there is no place in the workforce for me."

As it is, he's gaining the confidence and the experience

he needs to move forward, and that's got to be a good thing.

So take one dumped dad, one runaway wife

and what have you got?

Well, if you're a Thurrock investigator,

potentially a string of fraudulent benefit claims.

Ahmed Ogunsanya had been claiming Income Support and Housing Benefit

for a year when he decided to move.

While processing his renewed claim,

the council officers noticed that three people were registered

to vote from that address - one was a woman who shared the same surname.

Further investigations revealed that Ahmed Ogunsanya

shared a bank account with this same woman.

Their suspicions were aroused,

so a verification officer was dispatched to check it out.

He'd been claiming initially since July 2006.

This continued through two addresses.

Initially, it was based on him being in receipt of Income Support.

This was then stopped

and he declared that he was in receipt of a low income.

£95 a week as a personal trainer.

There was undisclosed amounts being paid into the accounts

that hadn't been told to us. When somebody's declaring

that they're in receipt of £95 a week in self-employment,

then you kind of wonder where all these other amounts of income's coming in from.

Living beyond their means,

with regards to their Sky subscription etc.

You know - 80-odd quid a month going out through that -

you then have to work out, well, how are they paying for all this,

when they have vehicles going out

that they've got HP agreements on for over £300 a month?

It all adds up.

£300 a month? Well, 95 quid a week

isn't going to cover that little lot!

We made the application for an arrest and search of both properties simultaneously.

We had two teams set up - one at Blackshots Lane, in Grays,

and the other at Colman Close in Stanford-le-Hope,

and both were entered at approximately the same time.

We entered Colman Close at approximately 7.30 in the morning.

Ahmed Ogunsanya and Hazel Matanki came down from upstairs...

What...together?

So after all this, Hazel IS Ahmed's wife?

..and you could clearly see

that there were some high-value items in the property.

One of the doors had actually been blocked off by a 50" plasma screen...

..fitted kitchen...

..plush carpets...

It's only a two-bedroom property.

There was a child's bed in one of the rooms

and a double bed in the other room,

so I would definitely say they were living there as a couple.

You mean they'd been living together all this time?

I can understand that with two lots of benefits,

you can afford a little bit extra,

but I'm not sure it covers these sorts of luxuries.

As we entered the property, the police entered,

explained that they were both being arrested for possible benefit fraud,

and no comments were made by either of them.

No comment.

'Something else to hide?'

Two safes were found in the property.

One was in the child's bedroom

and the other was in the airing cupboard - that was unlocked.

In the unlocked safe, in the airing cupboard upstairs,

was the marriage certificate showing that Hazel Matanki

and Ahmed Ogunsanya had actually married in 2006

Hold on a minute.

The 23rd of September 2006?

That's when Ahmed got married?!

Well, that was just two days before he put in his benefit claim

to Thurrock Council, using that whole "dumped dad" story.

So, while most couples celebrate their wedding

by going on honeymoon, he celebrated by raking in a load of cash...

from you and me!

It looks like this was a carefully pre-planned operation.

So what did the financial investigators find?

There was approximately £2,600 found at the address.

First of all, there was £2,000 found in an unlocked safe,

then there was £200 found in the back of a Bible.

Another £200 was found in a bedside cabinet,

and finally, another £200 was found in a cupboard

just above the cooker hob in the kitchen.

The locked digital home safe was initially seized by the police,

and then it was handed in to our custody and, lo and behold,

there was a vast amount of cash in there in £50 and £20 notes.

The majority of it was all banded up in £1,000 denominations.

There was a total of £20,200 in UK sterling,

with 1,000 US inside the safe.

The two combined seizure figures amounted to...

approximately, it was £23,416.

From my opinion, there's no explanation that somebody

should have that amount of cash in a safe when they're on benefits.

And only earning £95 a week as a personal trainer.

In the garage of the property, there was a lot of merchandise -

items of clothing, footwear, handbags, alcohol -

and it appeared to be genuine items, therefore it wasn't seized,

so it could be that they were importing them

and selling them on from that. There was no record

anywhere on their claim with VAT registration.

It appeared that these items were being sold off of their own back,

so to speak, without them paying any duty at all.

Oh, dear, Ahmed.

It looks like you've been a very, VERY naughty boy.

Also obtained during the search, there were numerous receipts

for Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Harrods.

There was many, many flight documents found -

boarding passes,

holidays that had been arranged between the family to Egypt -

clearly showing that they had a high lifestyle.

It seems that Hazel wasn't the only one using another name.

Ahmed was buying and selling under the false name of Malcolm Jones -

the third mystery person at Colman Close.

When you look at the lifestyle that he and his wife, Hazel, had,

in my opinion, it's what I consider is a champagne lifestyle.

They have always had very, very expensive vehicles to drive.

She drove a Porsche Cayenne.

He drove a top-of-the-range Vauxhall Astra Nurburgring.

Obviously, they've had flights all round the world,

and in addition to that, examining their bank accounts,

they have had substantial amounts

of unexplained cash deposits going in and out of the accounts,

and likewise moving money from one account to another,

international money transfers with Western Union.

All these indicate that they are not just your straightforward,

-average benefit claimant.

-No!

In fact, they could almost enter the ranks

of the most prolific money launderers in history.

When Ahmed Ogunsanya was first questioned,

he stated that the money had been given to him by a friend.

Unfortunately, the friend didn't back up the story.

Two days before we had arrested Mr Ogunsanya and his wife,

he had actually returned on a flight from Jamaica,

landing at Gatwick Airport.

He was stopped by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs officers

and he was in possession of £6,200 UK sterling

and 170,000 Jamaican dollars -

around about £1,000, English moneywise.

He, at the time, provided an explanation

that he had withdrawn some of this money

from a safe of his, so my gut feeling was,

if you've got all this money sitting in a safe at home,

why do you need to withdraw the money from your bank accounts

anything up to a month before you're going on holiday?

It just doesn't make commercial sense.

And it doesn't make much sense to us, either.

My opinion is that Ahmed and Hazel Ogunsanya

did not need any financial support

provided by the local authority or the DWP.

So what about the claims that were made by Hazel?

She was claiming her basic Jobseeker's Allowance

and then, in terms of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit,

she was receiving about £145 a week from the council.

They wouldn't have been entitled to benefits

if they'd claimed normally because there was undisclosed money coming

into their accounts, which has never really been accounted for properly.

So that's benefit fraudster, money launderer and tax avoider.

Anything else...while we're here?

They were charged with a number of offences in relation to

the provision of false documents, making of false statements

and failing to declare changes in their circumstances.

So the only genuine thing we can say about Ahmed

is that he's a bona fide crook.

Ahmed was charged with seven offences under social security legislation

relating to dishonestly failing to declare changes of his circumstances

and the provision of false documents.

Hazel was charged with five similar offences in relation to her claim.

So, what exactly are we talking here, Graham?

The overpayment figures at the end for Ahmed was nearly £34,500

and Hazel was £8,300, something in that order.

Her overpayment was considerably lower

than we thought it was going to be,

because the Department of Work and Pensions

chose not to raise an overpayment for her

in relation to the Jobseeker's Allowance that she had been claiming.

They pleaded guilty in May 2012,

when they appeared at court and were sentenced.

Ahmed was sentenced to 22 months' imprisonment

and Hazel was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment.

Ahmed and Hazel enjoyed having multiple addresses,

and now that's exactly what they've got,

as they're living separately at Her Majesty's pleasure.

The only downside is they're not allowed the keys.