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Dominic Littlewood
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Saints and Scroungers is a British television programme about welfare benefits. It is broadcast on BBC One and is currently presented by Matt Allwright since 2013, although the show was originally presented by Dominic Littlewood from 2009-2012. It focuses on two groups of people: the vulnerable who need help and those who help them 'saints' and fraudulent claimants 'scroungers'. The series is repeated in the UK on Crime & Investigation Network.
2013
Matt Allwright looks into the work of fraud investigators determined to catch those who steal from the public purse. And he meets the genuine claimants who deserve government help. Matt meets the fraud investigators who are on the trail of one woman who they believe is using various identities to work illegally in the UK as a nurse and claim benefits to the tune of £180,000.
After 30 years living abroad, Sandra Forshaw returns to the UK and claims benefits, but suspicions are soon raised. And when Oxford City Council launch an investigation, they uncover the real identity of the woman, amid decades of lies. And Matt meets the people who stepped in to help 84-year-old Dorothy during her hospital stay.
Fraud investigators look into the case of a new father who was left holding the baby.
An investigation into a council department head unearths a number of ghost employees.
Ealing Council discover a cache of false identities, forged documents and benefit claims.
A five-year investigation by West Midlands Police reveals a sophisticated fraud.
Matt meets the Croydon fraud investigators hot on the trail of a £47,000 benefit cheat.
Investigators discover the truth behind a jet-setting couple's lavish lifestyle.
Havering Council discover a £168,000 fraud behind a seemingly single mum.
Croydon Council learn they have been paying out claims for empty or derelict homes.
Fraud investigators at Brent uncovering a carousel of benefit fraud amounting to £190,000.
The story of a finance manager who used taxpayer money to fund her lifestyle.
Croydon Council follows up on a tip-off about a benefit claimant using a stolen identity.
Investigators for the NHS discover a financial analyst siphoning off taxpayers' money.
Fraud investigators catch a tax dodger who avoided paying hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Matt meets fraud investigators who were on the trail of a Jaguar-driving benefit cheat.
A benefit cheat tries to avoid paying back what he owes a council.
Officers at Southwark Council unwittingly uncover evidence of benefit fraud.
The fraud team at Ealing call on a handwriting expert to help convict two benefit cheats.
Investigators reveal how a family who seemed to have hit hard times were hiding fraud.
2012
Life is tough for 30-year-old Kerry; her husband is unemployed, and she has a growing family to look after. Kerry relies on child tax credit. But her family has been growing rapidly, and her tax credit income has swollen to more than 30,000 per year; the HMRC fraud investigators pay her a visit. Also, Dom meets 71-year-old Ken, who has lost a leg and recently been widowed. The last thing he wants to do is move to a care home, but adapting his own home to suit his needs now will be costly.
Croydon Council suspect UK taxpayers have been footing the bill for a young couple and their child to live in their borough as illegal immigrants for over a decade. They also think taxpayers have contributed more than 80,000 pounds in benefits, which the couple have used to set up shop in their homeland, along with a fish farm, a goat farm and a house. And Dom meets the parents of baby William, whose severe disabilities have left him facing an uncertain future.
Hammersmith and Fulham Council investigate one landlady and her tenant whose relationship is a little too close for their comfort. It is costing them more than 90,000 pounds in false benefit claims. And Dom meets dedicated carer Kemille, who looks after her nan and three growing boys of her own and works nights in a hostel. These duties are taking their toll on Kemille's health, and she needs help - fast.
Forty-six-year-old Jennifer has been living the high life holidaying in the Caribbean and Canada, but she told Newham Council that she was a single mother, struggling to make ends meet after her boyfriend left her. Now investigators are hot on her tail to track down the 75,000 pounds of benefits they have paid her. And Dom meets Kate, a brave young woman who has battled all her life to achieve her dream of becoming a laywer.
Keeping up with the Joneses is no easy task for fraud investigators in Croydon as they try to unravel how a conniving couple have raked in nearly 70,000 pounds in benefits they are not entitled to. According to a tip-off, Mr Jones may be faking disability and working under a stolen identity. And Dom meets Eunice from Bristol. She is elderly and frail and her house is no longer suitable, but she is adamant she wants to stay in her home of 25 years. How can she afford to make it safe and comfortable for her old age?
Looking after a disabled husband and three disabled children is no easy task, so 45-year-old Jayne has been getting a helping hand from the taxpayer in the form of tax credits. But the bill is mounting, and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs investigators are suspicious. They are right to be suspicious, as Jayne's imagination seems to have run away with her to the tune of over a hundred grand. And Dom meets Chris, who lost his sight in a random brutal attack. Putting his life back together is no easy task, but help is at hand.
In these cash-strapped times, stealing from the NHS is about as low as you can go. Fraud investigators track down a missing care home, and the criminal mastermind whose devious scam robbed her local Primary Care Trust of over 117,000 pounds. And Dom meets John, a young sportsman who refuses to be defined by his blindness.
61-year-old Amtul Bibi claimed to be a single woman struggling to pay her rent. But fraud investigators from Newham Council suspect she is not single at all, and that she and her husband have been happily ripping off the taxpayer to the tune of more than 50,000 pounds. And Dom meets Christine, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. As a working single woman, she is responsible for her bills - how will she cope financially while she is ill?
Fraud investigators target a woman who is trying to hide her real identity. But will a tale of two birth certificates and some undercover surveillance prove this Jamaican citizen is scrounging off the British taxpayer? And Dom meets Rachel and her family who, despite working all hours, are struggling to keep their heads above water.
Maria is a single mum on benefits, but is she living a double life? An anonymous tip-off suggests she is living with a partner, and fraud investiagators suspect she has claimed more than 60,000 pounds in benefits she is not entitled to. And Dom meets Sandra, who has worked her whole life but now cannot get a job.
Investigators have their work cut out keeping track of a maze of properties and names being used by a north London family gang of fraudsters to steal thousands of pounds a month in benefits. And Dom meets 29-year-old Damien, who has spent his life coping with a learning disability and a speech impediment. He wants to work and support his family but opportunities are few and far between.
Investigators are on the trail of a fake asylum seeker who is not only dishonestly claiming benefits at home but also abroad - using a dual identity. And Dom meets Dorothea, who is struggling to bring up her family alone after her husband's death. With two of her children suffering from ADHD, she has got her work cut out.
Investigators from her Majesty's Revenue and Customs track an unscrupulous gang, who are bringing women and children over from Lithuania and using them to steal over three-million pounds in false benefit claims. And Dom meets Charlotte, who was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumour at the age of 16. Surgery and the treatment that followed it tested Charlotte and her family to their limits. Children's charity CLIC Sargent helped them through it.
A pair of tax credit stealing scroungers finally get their dues after nearly two decades of abusing the benefit system - to the tune of £150,000. Investigators have their work cut out unravelling their tangled web of lies involving 16 fictitious children and four properties. And Dom meets a ex-soldier with post traumatic stress disorder who is battling to set up a charity to help others in the same situation.
The net closes in on a Rochdale dentist who shamelessly stole over 307,000 pounds from the NHS despite already earning a six figure salary. Fraud investigators are grappling with one of the most audacious and cynical attempts to defraud the NHS they have ever come across. And Dom meets 19-year-old Ella. She has had a rough start in life. In care at 13, by 16 she was dossing in a B&B with alcoholics and drug addicts - it was only thanks to the prompt actions of her social worker that she was plucked to safety. Can she make something of her life?
Fraud investigators in Southend are hot on the trail of a charity worker who they suspect has been lining her own pockets with £31,000 of illegally claimed benefits. And Dom meets a devoted husband and son, who cared for his terminally ill wife and elderly mother, then found himself in dire need. The saints at Age UK North Tyneside are on hand to help.
Fraud investigators in Havering are reeling after discovering the biggest benefits scam in the council's history - a married mother of two, who pretended to be single in order to swindle them out of over £140,000 worth of benefits.
A disabled father of six is suspected of claiming £174,000 in benefits while sitting on over £100,000 in savings across 13 undeclared bank accounts. And Dom meets Laura and her daughter Poppy, who has been diagnosed as profoundly deaf. How will Laura cope with Poppy's disability?
Mahira fled her home country of Iraq and sought asylum here in the UK. Investigators now suspect she has been using false identities to steal thousands from the benefit system - creating a property empire and putting her son through private school at the expense of the taxpayer.
Fraud investigators in South Gloucestershire are shocked to discover that a single mother who has claimed £62,000 in benefits has a taste for very expensive motors. When it turns out that she also has a surprisingly healthy bank account, officers conclude there is something dodgy going on with her benefit claims. And Dom meets Wayne, who is struggling to care for his wife and their young son. Michelle suffered a major epileptic seizure just months after their son was born and now needs constant care and support. Charity Home-Start steps in to help Wayne cope.
Dominic Littlewood
Streaming availability information not available
2009