VIDEO CATCHES UPPER NORWOOD FLY-TIPPERS IN THE ACT / RESIDENT’S FALSE LETTERS FROM CANCER CONSULTANT IN RE-HOUSING BID / MUCH-USED SCAM FOILED AFTER CUSTOMER EXPRESSES DOUBTS TO BANK CASHIER
VIDEO CATCHES UPPER NORWOOD FLY-TIPPERS IN THE ACT
Croydon council are calling for help in tracing two fly-tippers caught
on camera dumping tonnes of waste in Upper Norwood.
A member of the public filmed the two men emptying bin bags of rubbish
from a white hatchback van onto a large pile of waste at garages off
Eagle Hill before driving off.
“The vehicle’s number plate is visible in the film, and council
enforcement officers want to hear from anyone who can give information
on the van or the men, who wore high-visibility gilets and black
woollen hats” says a council spokeswoman.
The incident was filmed at 10am on 24th February, and the council is
releasing the footage now because enforcement officers have used it to
follow up leads behind the scenes before going public.
The appeal comes as the council continues its Don’t Mess With Croydon
– Take Pride campaign to make the borough cleaner and greener, which
includes tackling fly-tippers through penalty notices and court
action.
People convicted of fly-tipping can face up to £50,000 in fines and a
potential prison sentence. The council has won several recent court
cases against fly-tippers, including six people prosecuted in one day
in March and a successful council prosecution in February against a
man who fly-tipped in Broad Green.
Jo Negrini, the council’s executive director for place, said: “I want
to thank the resourceful resident who filmed this, and now that we’ve
used the footage to gather evidence we need the public’s help in
collaring these criminals.”
Anyone with information on the Eagle Hill fly-tipping incident or any
other dumped waste should contact the council’s dedicated fly-tipping
hotline on 020 8604 7000 or by emailing [email protected]
To see the fly-tipping video, visit: https://youtu.be/H5RSz04CjhU
(Source: Croydon council press release.)
RESIDENT’S FALSE LETTERS FROM CANCER CONSULTANT IN RE-HOUSING BID
Man “inundated Bromley council’s housing department with emails and
threats to go to the newspapers”
A Penge resident has been handed a suspended sentence after admitting
to providing false letters from an unknown Royal Marsden cancer
consultant to support a claim for social housing.
On 1 April 2015, at Croydon crown court, the man was sentenced to
three offences of fraud by using a false instrument.
He had provided three letters to Bromley council between 2011 and 2014
purporting to be from his consultant at The Royal Marsden hospital.
The letters asked that his rehousing application be looked at as a
matter of priority as he was a sufferer of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (a
form of cancer) and the property where he lived was not sufficient or
suitable for someone in his condition.
“The man inundated Bromley council’s housing department with emails
and threats to go to the newspapers with his situation” added the
spokeswoman.
“He often copied in the Mayor of Bromley, the chief executive and
Bromley councillors to his emails, stating that he was living in
overcrowded conditions as his partner and their two children were also
living in the one bedroom property.”
Suspicions arose after the third letter, apparently from the Royal
Marsden’s consultant, was received. A Bromley council housing officer
contacted the Royal Marsden who confirmed they had not heard of the
man – or his alleged consultant.
“The housing department referred the matter to the fraud team who then
opened an investigation into the matter. “At this time it was noted
the man was also claiming a single person discount on his council tax,
despite his re-housing application issue of ill health and
overcrowding.
“The man opted not to attend an interview under caution with fraud
officers to give him an opportunity to explain his side of the story
and instead wrote letters denying that he had anything to do with the
rehousing applications and that it was somebody else who acted on his
behalf.
“Despite the case being suitable for a magistrates trial, the man
elected a trial at crown court after initially pleading not guilty in
January 2015. “But when the matter went to crown court, he changed his
plea to guilty for the three fraud offences but not guilty for the
council tax offence, totalling £326.50.
“His mitigation on 1 April 2015 was that he had acted like a fool and
he asked the judge not to send him to prison.
“He apologised for all of the trouble and inconvenience that he had
caused and stated he was ashamed of himself and had no intention of
repeating his behaviour in the future.
“The judge decided that this was a sophisticated fraud which did cross
the custody threshold; however a suspended sentence of six months
imprisonment, suspended for two years was given. In addition to this.
“The man was ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work with any
breach to be reserved to the Crown Court and a contribution of £1,500
towards costs were to be made in favour of the London Borough of
Bromley.”
Despite there being no financial loss to the authority for the false
rehousing application, it is an offence under the housing allocation
scheme to obtain or attempt to obtain a tenancy by deception, the
spokeswoman added.
Anyone suspected of giving false information or withholding relevant
information is liable to be prosecuted and could face a fine of up to
£5,000.
A council spokesperson said: “We welcome this successful prosecution
as it involves a false application for housing which, had it
succeeded, could have resulted in a property being allocated to a
fraudster at the expense of a family in genuine need.
Given the increase in homeless people seeking housing, we have to be
vigilant for cheats who seek to exploit the system. We have to ensure
that housing will only be allocated to those who are genuinely
homeless.”
Anyone with information about a suspected fraudulent application for
housing or any fraud in the Borough should contact (in strict
confidence) the Fraud Hotline on 0800 169 6975 or email
[email protected] (Source: Bromley council press release.)
MUCH-USED SCAM FOILED AFTER CUSTOMER EXPRESSES DOUBTS TO BANK CASHIER
Working in unison, Croydon council’s trading standards team and a
town-centre bank prevented an elderly resident losing thousands of
pounds to heartless conmen.
The relationship established between the team and banks borough-wide
has seen a number of scams either blocked at source or stopped from
escalating.
The latest success came about when a 68-year-old Thornton Heath man
went to the Whitgift shopping centre branch of NatWest to make a bank
transfer of £4,800.
He had been cold-called that morning by a man who told him that there
was damp in the party wall of his flat. The caller said the damp
required the immediate attention of a pair of dehumidifiers.
The deposit required for the dehumidifiers, he continued, was £4,800.
Assuring the resident that the deposit would be refunded, he told him
to go to the bank to arrange the transfer of that sum.
At the bank, the resident mentioned his doubts to the cashier, who
promptly reported the matter to trading standards. An officer
explained to the resident that the method was a much-used scam that
sees its perpetrator create a sense of urgency to pressure the victim
into paying immediately, before realisation of what is going on. He
was told not to pay any money.
Officers reported the matter to the police, who visited the resident
at his home. While they were there, the conman telephoned but hung up
when the police took over the phone call.
Later that day, the scammer again phoned, claiming to be the police.
The trading standards officer had warned the resident that this was
likely to be the next move, so he hung up.
Jo Negrini, the council’s executive director for place, said: “It’s
cases like this that highlight the value of the groundwork put in by
our trading standards team.
“Thanks to their diligence, along with the would-be victim’s presence
of mind and the co-operation of the bank staff, another scam has been
stopped in its tracks, sparing an innocent resident the heartbreak of
being conned and the loss of a substantial sum from his life savings.
“It’s always worth reiterating that nobody should ever entertain the
approach of a cold caller, be it in person, over the phone or by
electronic means.
“If work needs doing, or a service performed, find a reputable
tradesman or follow the recommendation of friends or family – and
always get at least three quotes for any work.”
Reputable traders can be found via websites such as
www.trustmark.org.uk or http://trustedtraders.which.co.uk The listed
traders are vetted and approved by independent assessors.
If you have been scammed, report it to Action Fraud at
www.actionfraud.police.uk/ or by calling 0300 123 2040 to help stop it
happening to others.
For more information, please visit Citizens Advice Consumer Service at
www.adviceguide.org.uk or contact Croydon’s trading standards team on
020 8407 1311. (Source: Croydon council press release.)
