Benefits cheat caught snorkelling in Maldives after fiddling £81,000 disability cash
A BENEFITS cheat who claimed £81,000 because she could barely walk was caught out by holiday snaps of her snorkelling in the Maldives.
Linda Hoey, who swindled £80,000 in benefits, was caught snorkelling in the Maldives
Linda Hoey, 58, claimed that degenerative arthritis and back problems also meant she could not put her arms above her head and that she was unable to work.
But a probe was launched last year after pictures from a 2013 holiday in the Indian Ocean to celebrate her 20th wedding anniversary were passed to the Department for Work and Pensions.
Investigators discovered she had a full-time job, was a member of a gym and had been attending regular swimming and badminton lessons.
Hoey had been employed full-time by PartsWorld, a car accessory supplier in Cannock, Staffs, for 17 years.
Her boss told the court she often climbed stairs carrying trays of tea and had never used a walking stick.
Hoey had claimed benefits because she could barely walk
She has lied and exaggerated, cheating you, me and the public out of money from the public purse
The mother of four filed her first form claiming Disability Living Allowance in 1995. Jurors were told how she regularly used the M6 Toll for free as she was on the highest mobility allowance, and got a series of cars free of charge.
Her husband became her official carer after he gave up his job to launch a business from their home.
Hoey, of Tamworth, Staffs, fraudulently claimed £65,244 in Disability Living Allowance and used her disability car to avoid paying £15,690 in M6 toll charges over a 14-year period.
Hey was found guilty of misrepresenting her benefit claim
Last week she was found guilty at Stafford Crown Court of misrepresenting her benefit claim between 2001 and 2015 and misusing an exemption pass for the M6 Toll Road from 2004 to 2015.
Prosecutor Anthony Cartin told the court: “She has lied and exaggerated, cheating you, me and the public out of money from the public purse.”
He told Hoey: “You have some health issues but you exaggerated the impact on your daily life.”
She claimed she had not been dishonest and her mobility had got worse.
Hoey was ordered to return to court next month for sentencing.
A DWP spokesman said: “Only a small minority of people try to cheat, but cases like this show how we are rooting out those who are stealing taxpayers’ money.”