Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
August 31, 2009
A LABOURER who claimed more than GBP 4,000 worth of disability benefit and a mobility car was filmed carrying heavy girders around a building site - despite insisting he could not walk without a c rutch.
Michael Campbell, 43, of Prestonpans, was caught in a surveillance sting carried out by Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) fraud investigators following a tip-off by a member of the public.
His conviction was revealed during an Evening News investigation into benefit cheats, after a massive rise in convictions in and around Edinburgh over the last three years.
Other cases in recent weeks include a man who claimed nearly GBP 10,000 in disability benefit despite having two jobs - one of which included a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's office in Edinburgh, as well as a case where two women claimed more than GBP 30,000 each in single person benefits despite both living with partners on a permanent basis.
The Evening News also accompanied investigators on a number of ongoing surveillance operations in the Lothians, monitoring suspected benefit thieves unaware that they are currently under close scrutiny by the DWP.
Mr Campbell was convicted of benefit fraud at Haddington Sheriff Court earlier this month, and ordered to serve 100 hours community service and repay the GBP 4,465.95 of benefits he had wrongly claimed while working.
The DWP officer who led the investigation, who cannot be identified to safeguard future operations, said: "We set up a surveillance exercise, followed him to a building site in Elphinstone Road, Tranent, and established that he was working as a labourer.
"In his claim he said he couldn't walk without severe discomfort, over a maximum distance of 20 yards in two minutes, and that he always used an elbow crutch or a stick. We filmed Mr Campbell working around the building site, walking over uneven surfaces and carrying heavy objects.
"When we presented him with the evidence he admitted that his condition had improved."
Mr Campbell today put his fraudulent claim down to "stupidity", personal oversight and even poor advice by his disability officer.
He said: "I didn't set out to intentionally defraud anyone.
"I had a knee replacement and I would have preferred to stay off work, but I took some advice from the Job Centre and I got a job at B&Q.
"I was signed off the incapacity benefit, but I didn't get signed off the disability living allowance and I didn't receive much communication from my disability adviser regarding what I was and wasn't entitled to. I then got a job with builders Persimmon and didn't think a great deal about the benefit I was still receiving.
"I was as shocked as anyone when the investigators turned up at the site to question me about the overpayment. In the end it was all down to stupidity."
Investigations carried out by the DWP's Edinburgh team, which also covers parts of East Lothian and the Borders, were responsible for 409 successful convictions, fines and cautions in the year to March 2009 - nearly a third more than in 2006/07.
Benefits cheats in Edinburgh were also caught scamming a combined total of GBP 2.3 million in the same period, with one city resident discovered to have earned almost GBP 50,000 by falsely claiming benefits while working.
The Lothians currently has more than 30 dedicated fraud investigators carrying out multiple investigations every day.
They form part of a 3,000-strong team of fraud investigators who carry out more than 2,000 investigations a week throughout the UK.
Much of the information used in the investigations comes from tip-offs by members of the public who have called the DWP's dedicated hotline.
The phone line, on 0800 854 440 0800 854 440 , receives more than 600 calls a day from across the UK, while the DWP's website also receives an average of 200 online reports each day.
RECENT SUCCESSES FOR THE BENEFIT FRAUD INVESTIGATORS
31 July 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Gary Weston, 49, The Shore
Fraudulent claim: GBP 9532.20 + GBP 444.08
Sentence: GBP 130 fine + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a proactive "fraud drive" we conducted on employees of a company that we suspected of working while claiming benefits.
"His name appeared on a list of cleaners working for Rentokil Initial, so we called up his application form at the company and discovered that he had a reference from a second company called GBM.
"GBM had a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's offices, where Mr Weston would regularly work.
"We discovered he was working for both companies at the same time while also claiming benefits totalling GBP 9,532.20.
"We interviewed him about this and continued to investigate. Despite being interviewed by the DWP, and becoming aware that we were on to him, he made a further claim of GBP 444.08 without stating that he was still in work.
"We interviewed him again and he pleaded guilty."
Mr Weston could not be contacted for comment.
6 May 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Laura Picciti, 34, The Inch
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,129.84
Sentence: 200 hours of community service + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This mother-of-three claimed she was separated from her partner, but we received a tip-off with an allegation that he was back in the house.
"She had two children by this man over the period that she was claiming benefits as a person living alone, while her partner had applied for a car loan and other credit at her address, as well as having bank statements addressed there.
"We had a lot of background evidence already, but we set up a surveillance exercise to see if the man was actually living there, and we observed him leaving the house every day over a three-week period.
"When presented with the evidence she pleaded guilty."
6 May 2009: Linlithgow Sheriff Court
Jennifer Collier, 31, East Calder
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,000
Sentence: Seven months in prison + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a joint investigation with West Lothian Council.
"We already had some evidence that she was living with someone while claiming income support, housing benefit and council tax relief as a single person, mainly a joint bank account at her address.
"We discovered that he was working so we contacted his employer and took statements from them that showed us that he recorded Jennifer Collier's house as his home address.
"We conducted surveillance which recorded him leaving for work from her house on a regular basis.
"Once the surveillance footage was presented to her she admitted she'd been making bogus claims dating back to July 1998. The custodial sentence reflected the length of time this woman had allowed the bogus claim to continue."
High-tech operation akin to James Bond
THEY have an array of gadgets that wouldn't look out of place in a James Bond film.
From buttonhole cameras to night-vision goggles and a mobile control room with a bank of screens and video equipment, the operation to catch out benefit cheats in the Lothians is certainly high-tech.
"Our day can start as early as 4.30am and can often go on until 8pm the same day," says Edinburgh fraud investigator Frank, as he makes his way to his first "customer" of the day - a "living together" scam involving a woman who has been living with a partner despite claiming single-person benefits.
"We used to call the subjects of our investigations 'claimants', but the DWP decided that 'customers' sounded more friendly. We get up early and set up our equipment in order to establish a pattern. If we see the same person leaving a house every day or so over, say, a three-week period, we'll have a fair suspicion that the partner is living there full-time.
"While we do a lot of surveillance in the vehicles, some of our work involves sitting in the pub. Sometimes we'll get a call that someone's been bragging loudly in the pub about the amount of money they're cheating out of the benefits system.
"That's where our female surveillance officers come in very handy, as we can often go down in pairs wearing a buttonhole camera, and look like any other couple enjoying a quiet drink together."
The range of technologies available to DWP staff is expanding all the time - and they don't shy away from social networking sites or virtual mapping such as Google Streetview.
Meanwhile, the excuses they hear from "customers" caught in the act are equally diverse.
"The amount of information people put online about themselves these days is just mental," says fellow investigator Jack. "We were investigating a girl for a living-together scam, and she had her whole life on Bebo, including the boyfriend she was living with and the expensive holiday they were about to take together.
"A lot of people do try to deny they've been living with someone, even when there are bank account details, credit trails and DVLA details of their partner, but they usually own up when presented with the surveillance evidence."
However, DWP surveillance is used sparingly and is tightly controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, Frank explains, as he is forced to break off a surveillance when it crosses the path of a school playing field.
"We're very careful to avoid what we term 'collateral surveillance' - filming innocent people going about their day - and we're especially sensitive whenever children are involved."
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