Episode 6 Saints and Scroungers

One of the things that makes this country great is whenever we find

someone in genuine need, we help them out.

This money can help to transform people's lives.

I was in total turmoil.

But then whenever there's cash on offer,

you'll always find someone who wants to steal it.

A sustained and calculated fraud.

Those greedy few are being brought to justice.

They could potentially face prison as well.

This is the world of Saints And Scroungers.

The tax we pay in Britain fills the public purse to support

those in need.

Sadly, a fraction of this money ends up lining

the pockets of greedy fraudsters.

Saints And Scroungers shines a light on the investigators ensuring

cheats get their comeuppance.

And the saints who strive to help those that deserve support to

claim what's rightfully theirs.

Coming up on today's show...

Cash-hungry charity cheats willing to go as low as you can go

to line their pockets.

Money's being taken away from the most vulnerable people in society.

And I meet a terminally ill lady whose battle for benefits

brings about much more than she'd bargained for.

You've helped hundreds, possibly thousands, of people

in similar situations to you.

It was put right throughout the country.

Hello and welcome to an appeal for my charity,

the Matt Allwright Charity, helping to fill

my pockets at the expense of those who really need it.

And sadly, people do occasionally cheat charities to make

themselves a quick buck.

Most of them appear to be legitimate.

Like this one, Astonbrook Housing Association, which was

started in Birmingham in 2001 by this man, 54-year-old Mohammed Arwo.

What a selfless fella.

It was all about giving homeless people

and those seeking asylum from war-torn countries a bed,

a bit of food and help getting a job, once they'd settled.

Well, he sounds like a saint.

That was until a tip-off telling a slightly different story

landed on the desk of Detective Sergeant Emma Hickl.

In the early part of 2007,

Birmingham City Council received an anonymous

email from a whistleblower that claimed that at Astonbrook

Housing Association there was theft of funds and fraud occurring.

If true, it would mean that money set aside for the homeless

and asylum seekers could be at risk.

And what's worse, the whistleblower suggested the charity's boss,

Mr Arwo, and his fellow directors were the ones stashing the cash.

Now, before passing the case on to the police,

Birmingham City Council and the UK Border Agency had already

carried out their own initial investigation.

To see if the allegation had legs, DS Hickl and the team had to

sift through the findings to get up to speed on the charity.

They were a recognised provider of accommodation

and services for asylum seekers and vulnerable people

and they were trusted by public bodies, such as the council.

We've got in our records that they engaged probably over 100

private landlords, so they definitely provided some accommodation

and some support to some asylum seekers.

OK, so they were actually providing a service to people in society

who, let's face it, could do with a helping hand.

Doesn't sound like the type of business being run by people

who are then funnelling funds into their own pockets.

But - and there's always a but - there was money coming in to

the charity, and when I say money, I'm not talking about shrapnel.

Astonbrook Housing Association were awarded

funds from Birmingham City Council in about 2002

and the value of the money that they received was about

£1.2 million a year.

In 2006, they were awarded another contract and that was much bigger.

It meant that the money that they received went from about £1.2 million

a year to about £1.2 million a month.

A little bit of mental arithmetic will tell you that this

charity was taking in £14 million a year.

But just that huge sum of money doesn't mean that the boss

and the board of directors were trousering some of it.

Got to keep an open mind.

However, DS Hickl thought otherwise after discovering something

interesting in the council's investigation notes after

interviewing the charity staff.

They felt from the work that they had done that there was a huge

disparity between the level of service that was being provided

and the amount of money that the organisation was receiving.

They were all unhappy

and dissatisfied with what they thought was going on there.

And now, having swotted up on the case notes,

DS Hickl and the team were happy there was enough suspicion to

launch a full-scale police investigation.

They knew that if there were things going on at the charity that

shouldn't have been, one whiff of the police

sniffing about could lead the bosses to get the shredders out.

The team weren't taking any chances, and got straight down to business.

DC Andy Smith was part of the investigating team.

Warrants would have been sought to recover any documentation

of evidence that the offence was carrying on.

The building behind me is the offices of Astonbrook Housing Association.

We needed to execute a warrant at this premises.

And the team knew exactly what they were looking for.

Computer equipment, documents, invoices, requisition forms.

Um...

Cheque stubs, anything that related to Astonbrook Housing Association.

That sounds like a serious amount of work.

If that wasn't enough, the police also had warrants to raid the homes

of the managing director Mohammed Arwo and the other main players

at the charity.

Nothing could prepare them for what they were about to bag.

There were over ten addresses that we needed to execute warrants at,

so this meant that we needed a large number of officers.

Over 70 were involved in those raids,

with over 100,000 documents being seized

and over 90 computers being seized.

100,000 documents!

A great result for the team, as they knew somewhere in the paperwork

there could be vital evidence, but then on the flipside,

it could take months or even years to go through it all.

So the team decided to haul Mr Arwo and his merry men in,

to see if they would crack under questioning.

Down at the station, the suspects were keeping tight-lipped.

At that moment in time,

because we hadn't reviewed any of the documentation we'd seized,

we didn't have the evidence to put to them

at that interview at that time.

With no charges to pin on the suspects,

they had no choice but to let them loose.

Obviously, we can only keep people in custody

for a certain amount of time.

They were bailed to return at a later date.

It was starting to look as though the team had broken down

a dozen doors and seized enough paperwork to fill

the Albert Hall - the first front two rows - and all for nothing.

They were going to have to go back and do things the old-fashioned

way, by sifting through all the paperwork - 100,000 pieces of it.

We had traced a significant amount of the money to a bank account in Dubai.

But will their investigation get lost in the desert?

We can only go so far, tracing the money from the UK,

until it lands in an account in Dubai.

We can't go any further.

For now, it's farewell to the fraudsters

and hello to the people we call our saints.

Those in society that help others in genuine need

but who are too proud

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

It's a sad fact of life that illness can strike at any time

out of the blue.

And when the word cancer is mentioned,

the shock of the diagnosis itself can be devastating.

And no one knows this more than Pauline from Dorset.

In 2006, her life with husband Gary was turned upside down

when, after a five-year battle with cancer,

she was told it was terminal.

You sit there and you think...

My head was just going round. You think, "No, this can't be."

It's such a shock. You just think, what have you done wrong?

Why Pauline?

So, Pauline started a series of drug treatments to help prolong her life.

This meant she could work a few days a week,

essential to keep enough coming in to cover the mortgage and bills,

whilst Gary went part-time, so he could drive Pauline to hospital.

I wanted to continue life as normal as I could, really,

and, yeah, I wanted to sort of carry on working,

as the treatment would allow me to work.

Pauline continued to soldier on under some very difficult

circumstances, but as the treatment became more and more demanding,

she began to feel the strain.

Mentally and physically, it can affect you,

especially as time does go on.

Sleepless nights and sickness and... That's what chemotherapy does.

The more treatment I was having, the more tired I was getting.

Three years ago, Pauline was offered redundancy and decided it was

best to take it, as by now she was getting too ill to work.

But after losing their main pay packet,

it wasn't long before they began to feel the pinch.

Were you comfortable with the idea of claiming benefits?

Is it something that came naturally?

I knew, you know, I'm due the money, my rights to it, so I didn't feel

guilty, cos I know I've paid into the system all these years.

How did you first go about finding out about that

and working out how to get it?

Well, my disability living allowance,

I completed all the forms and had a letter to say,

"We've awarded you the money."

For around six months, everything was fine.

The money really helped Pauline and Gary out with the bills.

So it all went quiet.

And you think, great, I can carry on with my life, treatment,

working out where we go from here. Then what happened?

It was January 2010,

I had a letter to say I needed to fill in another questionnaire.

It said this claimant was considered no longer terminally ill

with a progressive illness because they've lived longer than six months.

Two weeks later, I got another letter, inviting me

to attend an interview with the Jobcentre GP.

My condition would be assessed

and sent forward to the benefit decisions officer,

as to whether I could carry on receiving benefit.

They basically told me, you know, if I don't fill the questionnaire in,

if I don't go for the interview, they'll stop my benefit.

Now, Pauline had already sent the benefits people

reports from her medical team that clearly stated

she was terminally ill with cancer.

So, quite understandably, she felt this Jobcentre GP visit

was totally unnecessary.

Both financially and emotionally, Pauline and Gary were on the brink,

and the letter that they received could have been enough

to push them over. After a decade of difficult challenges,

if anyone was due a break,

it was Pauline.

It was around that time that Pauline was put into contact with a helpline

and it was Gail Young who picked up the phone.

She was obviously very upset at this stage,

because she knew she was terminal, she knew she was dying.

And she couldn't believe they'd actually contacted her.

Pauline gave Gail all the details of her illness and of her claim.

She'd actually been diagnosed as terminally ill,

and had been awarded the disability living allowance

under the terminal rules, which means it was awarded

for three years. She was issued with a DS1500,

which is a form that's issued by medical professionals to help people

claim benefits under the fast-track system. It's a form that states

that the person who the form has been issued to

wouldn't reasonably be expected to live longer than six months.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing with the DWP,

Gail finally had a breakthrough.

They'd looked into it for me and she came back and said

there was definitely a gap in the procedures for employment

and support allowance that terminally ill patients

were falling through, so the benefit, the employment

and support allowance, would be brought in line with the disability

living allowance, and that's what they did.

I think it took probably a couple of weeks

to actually get her DLA reinstated.

It may have all been in a day's work for Gail,

but for Pauline and Gary, the impact has been huge.

I mean, Macmillan, I mean, I can't praise them enough.

They were my saviour, they really were, and Gail particularly.

Pauline contacting the helpline did highlight a problem with

employment and support allowance policies and procedures, which,

because I've got contacts within the Department for Work and Pensions,

through working together, we identified there was a gap in rules.

This was a positive start, but Gail knew she'd have to pull out all the

stops if she was going to instigate a change of policy throughout

the whole country. After a lot of hard work,

she finally came up trumps.

They have actually brought employment support allowance in line

with disability living allowance. It was just a gap in their procedures,

which thankfully has now been rectified.

So, another battle for you,

but actually the benefit was actually much greater than that.

Within a couple of days it was put right throughout the country,

and I did have a written apology from the Department for Work and

Pensions, apologising for causing me and Gary distress.

With their benefits back on track,

Gary and Pauline can concentrate on what was most important -

making sure they were on top of Pauline's treatment

and enjoying their time together.

But then, if they hadn't been through enough,

along came something else to throw a spanner into the works.

At the time our vehicle we had was really in disrepair

and it was going to cost something like £4,000 to repair.

A lot of money, and we didn't have that.

A working car was essential to get Pauline to and from the hospital

for her regular treatment. But now, because of her illness,

she was eligible for a car under a government mobility scheme,

so they filled out the forms and were accepted.

But just two weeks before the car was due to arrive,

Pauline got a call saying there was a problem. As before,

because Pauline had lived longer than the system expected her to,

the computer said no.

We sold our car, and I said, "How am I going to get to hospital?"

And he said, "Well, you'll have to fill in the claim forms, and we'll

"reassess you, and when you're reassessed, we can confirm

"you've had the car." So, again at the end of my tether.

I thought, "I can't believe this is happening!"

This time, Pauline knew exactly who to call.

I contacted Gail again about my car problem, and bless her,

she couldn't believe it herself.

I contacted disability living allowance on Pauline's behalf, erm,

explained the position to them.

Their decision-maker was absolutely lovely. They were able to extend

the benefit and she was able to get a car.

Three days later,

I had one of the adjudicators from disability living allowance

call me and apologise again and said, "We've renewed your benefit, Pauline.

"Don't fill the forms in and we'll renew it for another three years."

So, thanks to Gail and the Macmillan team, Pauline and Gary now

have the financial support they need to enjoy the precious time they have

-left together.

-Oh, what a Godsend!

It's er... I can't sing their praises high enough, and she said,

"I'm always here, Pauline, if you need me," you know.

"Don't worry, I'm always here."

Now it's back to our scroungers, where in Birmingham DC Smith

and DS Hickl are hot on the heels of a charity that, according to

a whistleblower, is not doing things that are terribly charitable at all.

Astonbrooks were awarded funds from Birmingham City Council to provide

a whole package of support for asylum seekers and other vulnerable people.

The suspicion was that not all of the council's 14 million quid a year

was being spent helping those in need.

Instead, some of it was being funnelled off into the pockets of

the charity boss, Mohammed Arwo, and five of the company's directors.

So, armed with warrants, the police raided their offices and homes,

bagging anything suspicious as evidence.

Computers, invoices, requisition forms, cheque stubs, anything

that contained anything to do with Astonbrook Housing Association.

But when the suspects were hauled in for questioning,

they were well and truly schtum.

At this stage, the police didn't have much proof that Mr Arwo

or his other directors had done anything wrong.

Still, they would have bet their last penny that things

weren't as they should be.

However, without proof, a suspicion is worth nothing.

As investigators all over the world say, a hunch won't buy you lunch.

Already, this is a huge task

for the police to review all those documents and gather evidence

from the information that we've seized,

and identify subsequent enquiries from those documents.

It's the largest case I've ever worked on, and one of the biggest

cases this department has faced, as far as I'm aware.

But DC Andy Smith and the team weren't put off that easily.

They kicked off by taking a closer look at what services the charity

was paying for, and more importantly who they were paying it to.

Very soon they unearthed something very interesting.

As you can see on the laptop,

we have an Astonbrook Housing Association requisition form.

This document was made out to Walker Language Services

for interpretation services.

And this company allegedly worked from Saint Nicholas Street

in Bristol.

When officers went to that location, it didn't exist.

Or, if it did exist, it was either a residential property

or a commercial property that was not Walker Language Services.

OK, that does sound a bit odd.

Maybe the company had just moved or went under?

But when DC Smith traced the payment for this non-existent company,

he found something that suggested otherwise.

When you actually go to the cheque that relates to that requisition

and invoice, you can see it's made out to M Arwo for the same amount,

and that's going into the personal bank account of Mohammed Arwo.

Mr Arwo - just remind us who he is again.

The CEO of Astonbrook Housing Association.

Blimey. So, the boss had received a company cheque for an invoice

linked to phoney services from a fake company.

That doesn't sound very charitable.

DC Smith now had the task of finding out if that was just a one-off.

As soon as we've identified one cheque that is a fraudulent payment,

we then have to recover every cheque that was in Mr Arwo's name.

We have to recover every cheque for every employee within Astonbrook

and every associated company.

These companies were legitimate companies.

They were all registered with Companies House.

They all did offer legitimate services.

And the services they were providing,

like plumbers and decorators,

didn't look like anything out of the ordinary.

Just the sort of expenses a housing charity would have.

But as they dug a little deeper,

they discovered something that tells a slightly different story.

From recovering the cheques,

we were able to identify that other companies had been used.

Outward Property Services,

Sahan Express, Gabal Language and Houseware.

These were companies set up by either family members of the

Arwos, or directors or employees of Astonbrook Housing Association.

OK, let me get this straight.

Mr Arwo had set up legitimate companies,

not only in his name, but that of his close family.

How did that work exactly?

Cheques were made to these companies.

They were shown in the accounting system as being made to these

companies. When you then went to the original cheque,

you found that it was actually being made into the personal

account of one of the directors.

So it looked like they were cooking the old books to launder

money out of the charity and into their own wallets.

The police knew that if they were going to prove

this beyond reasonable doubt, it would be no mean feat.

They needed someone on the inside.

As a result of the investigation,

the charities regulator had actually appointed an interim manager.

The interim had already started doing an accounting

and an auditing process.

Now they'd traced the invoices and cheques,

but in order to prove the money was definitely being stolen,

and not just loaned or moved by mistake, what they really needed

was to see where the money was going and how the money was being spent.

We applied for protection orders for the bank accounts held by Astonbrook

Housing Association,

so we can get all their banking records as far back as we can

and that shows us all the financial transactions going in

and out of that account within that period.

From the information that we already had, that led us to investigate

companies that had already been set up by the individuals.

And it certainly paid off.

Not only did it link stolen charity funds to a Mohammed Arwo,

they also discovered what they were spending the cash on.

The money was being predominantly used to purchase

property in the UK, mainly in the Midlands.

Some of the properties were purchased for themselves,

and they may have resided in them for a period of time.

Some of the properties were also used for rental purposes

and rented back to the charity.

Not only were they stealing sums of money,

they were then reinvesting it in property that they would rent

back to the charity so they could make even more money.

In order to ensure that we got a successful conviction at court,

we had to recover every cheque,

and because of the large volume of cheques, it wasn't an easy process.

As a result of the investigation,

we traced a significant amount of the money to a bank account in Dubai.

So, as well as laundering money through crooked companies

in the UK, Mr Arwo and co were also shipping it out to the Middle East.

We can only go so far, tracing the money from the UK,

until it lands in an account in Dubai, we can't go any further.

But it wasn't all bad news.

Despite Mr Arwo and his group's best efforts to disguise their dodgy

transactions in the UK, they were no match for the eagle-eyed officers.

After scrutinising 18,000 cheques, countless bank accounts

and over 50 dubious companies,

DS Hickl now had them right where she wanted them.

In November 2010, all the defendants were charged

with conspiracy to defraud

and money laundering at Birmingham Crown Court.

With the evidence stacked up against them,

surely Mr Arwo and his gang would just 'fess up. Wouldn't they?

At the initial hearing, they all pleaded not guilty.

Disappointing news for DS Hickl and the team.

Add to that, the lead investigator in the case, DC Mark Simmons,

passed away unexpectedly.

Mark was working on this case right from the beginning,

so that would have been about June 2007.

And he worked on it solidly for five years.

It was a huge commitment and he worked extremely diligently and

professionally in gathering all the evidence to convict these defendants.

Now, DC Simmons knew the investigation inside out.

So, understandably, it was a bitter blow to the team.

But a short time later, there was a breakthrough.

Even though we were expecting to go to trial in September 2012,

at the end of July

at another hearing, the defendants pleaded guilty.

The weight of evidence gathered by the police was clearly too much

for the gang to handle.

For conspiracy to defraud Birmingham City Council out of £1.6 million,

Mr Arwo was given four and a half years behind bars,

whilst his five partners in crime were given between two years

and 15 months.

And as for the stolen money,

the legal cogs are in motion to make the gang repay what they stole.

Money's been taken away from the most vulnerable people in society,

people who have come from difficulties in their homeland

to the United Kingdom for assistance and it was taken directly from them,

into accounts of what can only be described as greedy people.

We're very satisfied at the sentences that these individuals received.

I think it sends out a clear message that people who misappropriate

and abuse public funds will be investigated and will be punished.

So, Arwo and his fellow fraudsters were entrusted with money

that was supposed to provide

a shelter for some of society's most vulnerable people.

Luckily for them, the Government provides another

kind of publicly funded shelter,

and that's where they're spending time.

I'm talking about prison.