Episode 8 Saints and Scroungers

In this country, the money we pay in taxes goes to provide essential services.

It's a safety net as well, to help when things go wrong.

We'd got ourselves into a big dark hole.

But there are some people who see that money as something they deserve, even when they don't.

A sustained and calculated fraud.

But for anyone trying to cheat the system, there's a price to pay.

They could face prison as well.

This is the world of Saints and Scroungers.

This is Saints and Scroungers.

We'll show you people who think they can make a fast buck

stealing public money from you and me, the taxpayer.

And we also tell the stories of unsung heroes and heroines.

The saints get the recognition they deserve,

and for the fraudsters? Well, it's pay-back time.

Coming up on today's show...

a couple living a lavish lifestyle at the expense of the system.

It's been described as a champagne lifestyle, because in the garage, there was a lot of champagne!

And a full-time mum and carer at rock bottom gets a helping hand to get back to work.

My confidence had gone. Smashed to pieces. I had no self esteem.

Some people have got the master plan.

Live life to the full. Work hard.

Eventually, maybe, invest in a property portfolio

and then end up living in Spain

on the Mediterranean, with your own yacht.

OK. It's more of a dream than reality, I'll give you that.

But one person who was determined to follow this dream

was Paul Hoyle.

He spent most of the year in his villa in Spain

and also owned properties in the UK and France.

To cruise around in, he had his pick of a yacht or his flash E-Type Jaguar.

And with glamorous blonde Kim Burrell on his arm,

to most people, Paul Hoyle was the image of the perfectly successful businessman.

But not to those in the benefits department at Thurrock Council.

Following a routine council tax check in May 2008,

suspicions arose about how genuine Paul Hoyle's benefit claims were,

triggering an investigation.

The case was passed on to Debbie Brazil,

a benefit fraud investigator at Thurrock council.

Routine checks are carried out by verification officers

just to ensure that the claim has been paid correctly

and continues to do so.

When they first heard of Paul Hoyle, nothing seemed dodgy at all.

Paul Hoyle first became aware to Thurrock council

when Kim Burrell named him as the landlord in September 2004.

Before renting a property from Paul Hoyle,

Kim Burrell, a 44-year-old mother of two

had previously lived in a house a few miles away in Purfleet,

which she sold to a man called James Ward.

Very little was known about James Ward.

He was alleged to have had the deeds transferred into his name

in August 2004.

So, after selling the property to James Ward,

Kim Burrell started renting a property from Paul Hoyle,

and as she wasn't working, sought financial help

from Thurrock Council to pay for it.

She made a claim for housing benefit, council tax benefits

and possibly income support as a single parent with two dependent children.

But investigators discovered the first discrepancy in the paper trail

a year later, when information provided by Kim Burrell

looked suspicious.

During her claim, Kim Burrell gave birth to another daughter

in June 2005

which she reported to the Department of Work and Pensions,

but failed to report to Thurrock Council.

OK. So far, we have a mum claiming housing benefit

and benefit for a child she's failed to tell the council about.

What she did tell them about was a change of landlord

when ownership of the property she lived in

was transferred from Paul Hoyle to James Ward,

the same man she'd sold her first house to.

So, three people. Kim Burrell, single mum on full benefits.

Paul Hoyle, her first landlord,

and James Ward, her new landlord,

who also purchased her first house.

In fact, this James Ward had quite a nice collection of properties.

And the team discovered he wasn't the only property mogul in town.

Credit checks into Kim Burrell revealed

that in February 2008, this benefit-reliant single mum of three

bought a house in Bulphan, Upminster.

To get the mortgage, she'd claimed she was a self-employed stockbroker.

What's more, Paul Hoyle was back in the picture

and seeking financial assistance for the same property.

Was he looking to claim benefits to pay off Burrell's mortgage,

while she was also claiming benefit to live in a house down the road?

Alarm bells started ringing at Thurrock Council.

The case was passed up to their head of fraud.

Hoyle submitted a claim for Jobseeker's Allowance,

stating he'd just come back from Spain where he'd been working.

And he was looking for a property and he submitted housing benefit claims

for a house in Albert Road, Bulphan.

On his application forms,

Hoyle claimed he was bankrupt

and unable to work in Spain any longer

because of a bad back.

Considering he was once raking in money as Burrell's landlord,

investigators thought it was time to look further

into Burrell and Hoyle's relationship

and where all their money was going.

A raft of credit checks at the various addresses

showed a number of links between them

and also started to show up other people whose names cropped up in the inquiry,

specifically a chap called James Ward.

So property tycoon James Ward is back in the picture.

What's more, Hoyle has named this James Ward

as his new landlord,

rather than Burrell, who actually purchased the property.

Confused? You're not the only ones.

Burrell, Hoyle and Ward had a number of connections.

And they didn't look like coincidences.

Landlords, tenants, home-owners,

an ex-pat, a bankrupt and a single mum.

Could the list get any longer?

There was only one way for the fraud team to go.

You'd need to go into this with an open mind,

because sometimes a landlord will have a number of different properties,

and a tenant will move around.

The team needed more info.

So they decided to investigate even further

the mystery man that was James Ward,

owner of two properties both connected to Burrell and Hoyle.

James Ward was associated with a company called Fenland Building Company.

The checks we did on that showed it was just a virtual office.

There was nothing to it, no substance to it at all.

So the information we were able to gather on him was fairly limited.

He seemed to be a man who existed on paper, but we weren't sure he existed in real life.

Blimey. So now investigators weren't even sure if he was around at all.

Ward's identity wasn't the only one becoming clearer in the investigation.

The other one was that of Kim Burrell's third child.

The father given on the birth certificate was Paul Hoyle.

And the address for both of them was the claim address.

What they were up to was murky.

But how much murkier could it get?

Thank goodness it's time to say farewell to the fraudsters

and hello to the people we call saints -

those in society that help others desperately in need

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

School days. The happiest of your life, or so they say.

But for some people they aren't.

And if you don't like school, the chances are you won't get good qualifications.

It's hard enough to get a job these days WITH good qualifications.

So where do you start?

Sky, a 48-year-old single mother,

moved from London to Watford after her relationship ended.

With her were her children, aged 12 to 15.

The youngest being Jonathan, known as JJ,

who had learning disorders.

I didn't work. I hadn't worked for some years

cos my son, JJ, at an early age,

was diagnosed with ADHD and learning difficulties and behavioural problems.

So I became his full-time carer.

Sky and her children relied heavily on benefits to survive.

'At times, I actually went without eating myself'

so if it was a bit cold, I could put money on the gas, electric, make sure my children were fed.

So it's no joke being on benefits.

As JJ grew older, his behaviour settled,

but Sky, who had no qualifications, was left feeling pretty worthless,

unable to improve her life prospects.

I knew I didn't want to live on benefits.

I knew I wanted to get a job.

But I really didn't believe I had the capability

or anyone would really want to employ me.

When Sky was at her lowest point,

someone threw her a lifeline.

I met somebody locally who told me about a place

that I could go, like a community place,

and they did education and different activities and so forth.

The organisation Sky was told about

was community-based charity Ascend.

The aim of Ascend is to move people forward in their lives.

To rebuild their confidence, rebuild their self esteem.

And hopefully get them back into lifelong learning

or into work.

I've come to Watford to meet Sky,

to hear a little bit of her story.

So introduce me to the Sky who walked through the door here.

Unconfident, timid.

Not really thinking much of herself.

Didn't really think that she was worth much.

It was down to the people at the centre to coax Sky out of her shell

and help her figure out what she needed.

'It was overcoming the emotional barrier,'

the baggage that Sky brought in.

We had to overcome that first.

I used to work before I had children.

Before my son was born and we found his issues that he had.

And I believe I needed a bit of myself back.

There was a bit of me that had been missing for many years.

So Sky felt finding a job might be the answer to finding herself.

But she had a lot of work to do.

She always said because she doesn't have qualifications it would hold her back.

The majority of our service users

will have had a really bad experience of school.

And so we see a lot of people who have low self esteem, low confidence,

and they cannot see how they can reach any potential goal.

I absolutely detested school.

I didn't come out with any qualifications.

'But I realise now the reason could very well have been

'because in later life I found out I'm dyslexic.'

So I think the reason behind me not liking school

was probably because I couldn't manage within the classes.

Like a tenth of the UK population,

Sky suffers from dyslexia which means she has difficulty reading, spelling and writing.

It was only in the years after school that Sky was told she had dyslexia

but she hadn't received help to deal with it yet.

Roy Carroll, a support worker for Ascend, aimed to do just that.

She wanted to learn better English

so that she could apply for jobs and not feel guilty about it

and not feel as if she was hiding something.

If you're dyslexic, there's nothing wrong with telling people. "I'm dyslexic."

Sky had lived with the burden of dyslexia for years

and it even had an effect on her duties as a mother.

The time I struggled most

was when one of my children would ask me to spell a word and I couldn't spell it.

I used to get angry and say, "I'm busy. Leave me alone."

That's how I used to get out of spelling to my children.

My mum thinks she's stupid. That's how she looks on herself.

She says, "I can't do this", or "I can't do that."

But she can do it.

So we pointed her in the right direction

of getting onto an English class and a maths class.

'I will go and sit in a classroom with them for the first two lessons'

or three lessons, or however long it takes to settle people down

to get them into the swing of it.

I didn't feel like anyone was judging me or anyone looked down on me.

And the thing I liked most about it was I could help other people.

With time, patience and reassurance,

Roy helped Sky to accept her dyslexia

then recognise and use the skills she did have to help other people at Ascend.

The progress Sky has made since she first came to Roy for help is amazing.

When you've got dyslexia and you can't spell properly, it really does hold you back.

I can remember our interview, the very first one we had,

that you said about feeling stupid because you were dyslexic.

But look at what I'm doing, and I'm dyslexic.

That's what you actually said to me at the time.

"I'm going to share something with you, Sky. I'm dyslexic."

-And I was like, "Really?!" I couldn't believe it.

-That's right.

'Every week I would go, and I'd learn something new.

That made me feel better about myself.

With the support and tuition of people at the charity,

Sky's received a certificate for completing an English course

and also passed her level three City & Guilds in Maths.

She was a really hard worker. Turned up every day, done her work,

passed the exam.

So when did the point come when you decided, "Actually I am employable. I can do this"?

I think it was after doing my exams.

I was absolutely overjoyed that I passed those.

And I think possibly going to job club, sending out CVs,

applying for jobs and ringing, joining agencies.

I just one day had this realisation

and I said, it was January time,

I said, "By the summer I will be working."

Eventually, Sky's hard work paid off.

After applying for a job that she particularly liked the sound of,

she was offered a position.

She hadn't been out of work, really. She'd been doing other work while she was at home.

Caring for her son.

So she had lots of caring experience.

She knew a lot about it.

So we tried to direct her into that area of becoming a carer.

People think they've got no skills at all,

but there are actually lots of skills that they gain throughout their life

that they can use to go and seek further employment.

Tell me about your job. What do you do?

I'm a care assistant. I look after the elderly.

I do a night shift, so my job basically consists of going in at ten o'clock at night,

making sure that everybody's comfortable through the night.

There's a bell system if they need anyone.

And we just basically look after the residents.

-I really enjoy what I do.

-Are you good at it?

I'd like to think so.

There's been no complaints yet. I haven't had the boss take me in the office and tear me to shreds yet!

Thanks to the people that work at the charity,

Sky is now in employment.

It was thanks to them that she managed to find herself,

get qualified and then get her life back on track.

'I'm grateful that they took the time with me and could see my potential.

'Because I didn't see it.'

Words can't describe how proud of my mum I am.

I'm really proud of my mum. I am.

'It means I've done my job properly, basically.'

So if somebody can go out, feel that they've got no chance in life of improving themselves,

then they can. Anyone can.

And they just gave me my confidence. They gave me my self esteem.

They made me realise, you know,

that you are worth it.

If Sky's story proves anything, it's this.

With the right help and inspiration,

you can claim back the self confidence that you need

to get out and prove yourself all over again.

Not all benefit claimants are as deserving.

Some, in fact, are milking the system

for every penny they can.

Thurrock benefit fraud investigators had received a tip-off from their council tax department

that two individual claimants, mother of two Kim Burrell

and ex-pat bankrupt, Paul Hoyle,

were possibly in a relationship and living together.

But Burrell had claimed she was single, living with just her children

and renting a property on Church Road in Bulphan

from a man called James Ward.

James Ward was associated with a company called Fenland Building Company.

The checks that we did on that showed that really it was just a virtual office.

There was nothing to it. No substance to it at all.

So the information we were able to gather on him was fairly limited.

He seemed to be a man who existed on paper

but we weren't sure existed in real life.

In addition, the fraud team discovered

that Burrell had gone on to purchase a house nearby on Albert Road in Bulphan

by claiming she was a self-employed stockbroker on the mortgage application.

Alarm bells rang when Hoyle submitted a benefit claim for the same property,

attempting to deceive the benefit system

by claiming its landlord was strangely the same mystery man,

James Ward.

We were still looking for a positive link between Burrell and Hoyle,

rather than a causal link through associations with properties.

Kim Burrell gave birth to a daughter.

Although that birth wasn't reported to the council

because it would have blown the cover on her claim,

it was reported to the DWP

because she could then claim additional benefits in relation to child benefit.

The father given on the birth certificate was Paul Wayne Hoyle.

The address for both of them was the claim address.

So we now had a definite link between the two

and could start to build on that.

This new information meant the investigation team

had enough concrete evidence to do more detailed checks

on Burrell and Hoyle.

We're entitled under Social Security Fraud Act powers

to make background enquiries into people's bank accounts.

That was the next stage. All the bank accounts that we identified were interrogated.

One of these showed that she was making regular payments to a bank in Spain,

£650-odd a month,

which was being withdrawn from ATMs in Spain.

So somehow, this single mother on benefits

could afford to send £650 a month to Spain.

Very odd.

Another strange coincidence -

Paul Hoyle stated on his benefit claim form

that he had been working in Spain

but that now he was in the UK, bankrupt and unable to work due to an injury.

The plot was thickening.

Had Burrell been sending Hoyle money while he was in Spain?

Graham needed to call in a colleague

to do Land Registry checks and shed some light on the mystery man also involved, James Ward.

They had been buying and selling a few properties

within the Thurrock area.

Between the accounts in the name of James Ward, Paul Hoyle and Kim Burrell,

there were substantial unexplained cash deposits

as well as substantial transfers of monies between the three account holders.

Obviously, as a result of this analysis,

it was quite clear that all three were in cahoots.

Gary discovered that benefit claimants Burrell and Hoyle and mystery man Ward

had between them managed to purchase three Essex properties.

And who'd been paying the mortgages?

The benefits system and innocent tenants

placed in the properties to pay rent.

All the profits made were sneakily hidden in undeclared bank accounts.

Thurrock Council were beginning to believe that Burrell and Hoyle

were anything but two single people on the brink of poverty.

In fact, it was beginning to look as though they'd amassed a very nice little property empire

thanks to some large-scale mortgage and benefit fraud.

With enough information to warrant a search,

it was time for the fraud investigation team

to crack down on this conniving couple.

The unwelcome visit took place early one morning in April 2012

with Essex police.

And the house in Bulphan didn't look like the house of anyone living on the bread line.

It has a fairly large recently laid forecourt.

There was a caravan and a number of cars on the forecourt.

Also cars that were associated with Burrell parked outside.

We knocked the door and Mr Hoyle answered the door to us

in his dressing gown and pyjamas.

He invited us in and there we found Kim Shirley Burrell in bed.

It certainly didn't look like your average benefit claimant's house.

Very nicely decorated downstairs.

Big TV. Lounge-cum-diner. Nice big kitchen.

A large amount of jewellery and watches were found.

By the looks of it, Burrell and Hoyle thought they had something to celebrate.

There was a recently converted garage at the side of the house,

stacked floor to ceiling with wines and spirits and beer.

It's been described as a champagne lifestyle

because in the garage, there was an awful lot of champagne.

The regular money disappearing off to Spain

was about to make a lot more sense, too.

We established that there had been a property in Spain

which had been purchased using documents bought off the internet,

purporting to be P45s, what have you.

So the whole of that was bent.

Also amongst the paperwork, two boats had come up.

A boat called Cyban, a nine-metre boat registered in the UK,

and then another 32-foot yacht

which was on a mooring out in Spain.

Yachts, champagne, expensive jewellery.

Kim Burrell and Paul Hoyle had been living a footballer's lifestyle

at the expense of the UK taxpayer.

There was another unexplained man involved. James Ward.

The team were about to find out just who this enigma really was.

There was a box in the bedroom.

We opened it and it contained paperwork, passports and some cash.

When I looked at the passports,

it all started to become clear.

Because there was the passport of the man who opened the door, Paul Wayne Hoyle,

and also in there was the passport of James Thomas Ward

who was the same man.

It finally became apparent that Paul Hoyle had assumed an alias

of an individual by the name of James Ward.

And he had actually opened a number of bank accounts in this alias.

So James Ward, the property tycoon that Kim Burrell sold her first house to

and who took over ownership of the second property from Paul Hoyle

couldn't be found because he was, in fact, Paul Hoyle.

With their status as a couple in cahoots pretty much confirmed,

the investigators took Burrell and Hoyle in for questioning.

They were arrested and taken away.

It took all day to search the property because of the amount of stuff that was there.

We took away some 200 exhibits connected with the benefit fraud.

And they were subsequently interviewed at Grays police station.

Refusing to co-operate, Burrell and Hoyle mainly chose to remain silent

during their interviews about the elaborate benefits scam.

Kim Burrell did, however, insist

she had no idea James Ward and Paul Hoyle were the same person.

We were able to say that all of Burrell's overpaid benefit,

housing benefit and council tax benefit, could be recovered.

Also identified that she had undeclared assets and undeclared capital

which nulled her income support.

So that was fairly easy.

In relation to Hoyle, again it was easy to show

that he had manufactured documents in order to support the claim made by Burrell.

So how much had this pair managed to claim in dodgy benefits?

Investigators did some sums

and came up with an astounding figure.

We were a few pounds shy of £100,000 by the time we'd finished.

Yes, over six years, between them, Burrell and Hoyle claimed

just over £47,000 in housing benefit,

over £46,000 in income support,

and over £4,000 in council tax benefit,

totalling just over £97,000.

It was determined that we would prosecute, and a large number of offences were put to them.

They pleaded guilty to some and not guilty to others.

The pleas were accepted and after a number of adjournments,

they eventually appeared at court in June 2012

and were then sentenced.

So Burrell and Hoyle finally admitted their crimes.

Over six years, they'd rifled public money to build up a property portfolio.

And they'd used benefits and private rent to pay off the mortgages.

Hoyle was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment.

And Burrell was sentenced to eight months imprisonment

but her prison sentence was suspended for 12 months.

She was also ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work in the community

and received a curfew for a period of four months.

Thurrock Council are now going through the process of retrieving some of their stolen money

through confiscating assets and freezing the couple's bank accounts.

They'll both be in a position to claim benefits by the time we're finished with them!

With Hoyle behind bars and Burrell on a curfew and community service,

there's one jet set couple that won't be flying anywhere for a while.