Welfare cheat spectacularly caught out by holiday photos
A welfare cheat has been spectacularly exposed after police found photos of the woman, supposedly too disabled to walk, looking happy and healthy on holidays.
Linda Hoey from Staffordshire in the UK claimed £65,244 ($A108,700) in Disability Living Allowance and avoided paying an additional £15,690 ($A26,140) in road toll fees over a 14-year period using her disability car, according to The Sun.
The 58-year-old claimed to have degenerative arthritis and back problems which prevented her from walking more than a metre a minute. She was finally caught out after police, following a tip-off, searched her home only to find pictures of recent holidays to Egypt and the Maldives, in which she could be seen swimming and playing pool.
Further investigation revealed Hoey also had a gym membership, which she regularly used to attend swimming and badminton lessons. It was also discovered that, despite claiming she was unfit for work, she had been employed part-time at a car accessories supplier for 17 years.
Last Friday, she was found guilty of misrepresenting her benefit claim from 2001 to 2015, as well as misusing a road toll exemption pass between 2004 and 2015.
“She had been working full time from 1997 in a desk job doing the exact thing – sitting for a long time in the same position – she said she could not do without pain,” said prosecutor Anthony Cartin. “She has lied and exaggerated, cheating you, me and the public out of money from the public purse.”
Hoey fought the accusations, claiming, “I have not been dishonest. My mobility has got worse. I cannot walk without severe discomfort but perhaps I could have explained things a lot better on the forms I filled in.”
She will return to court in September for sentencing.