Benefit cheat who pocketed £100,000 by claiming to be wheelchair-bound for TEN YEARS is caught hula dancing on holiday

• Abdul Esfandmozd, 51, from Portsmouth, claimed to be 'severely disabled'
• He fooled neighbours and the council by using an electric chair for a decade
• Enjoyed holidays to America, Cyprus and Malta and invested in property

A benefit cheat who pocketed almost £100,000 over ten years by claiming to be wheelchair bound was caught when police found photos of him hula dancing on holiday.
Abdul Esfandmozd, 51, lived in a modest flat in Portsmouth and fooled neighbours and officials by travelling around the city in an electric wheelchair.
He claimed to be ‘severely disabled’ and incapable of standing or walking without crutches and was supposed to use the cash to pay for carers.

Scheming: Abdul Esfandmozd, 51, fooled neighbours and officials by trundling around his home city in an electric chair for ten years

He received the money by claiming to be 'severely disabled' and incapable of standing or walking except with crutches.
Instead, he enjoyed regular holidays to America, Cyprus and Malta and invested in property, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.
Forms on which he was meant to list carers' names included former England goalkeeper P. Shilton, athlete D. Thompson and even a Mr D. Duck.
The huge scam came to light when council officers noticed his paperwork was not in order.
He had not submitted receipts for the care work he was supposed to be buying with the £98,730 of payments.
Police raided his home and found photographs of him lifting a woman up on a trip abroad, diving into a pool and dancing.
There were also six hours of home videos of him filmed on holiday, in which he was shown walking long distances.

Esfandmozd, 51, lived an apparently quiet life in a modest flat in Portsmouth, Hampshire, and was supposed to use the cash to pay for carers

Jailing Esfandmozd for four  years, Judge Sarah Munro QC described him as ‘dishonest and manipulative’.
But despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Esfandmozd continued to deny his guilt and even remained in his wheelchair throughout the trial.
When the verdict was announced, he shouted at the jury: ‘I am innocent, like Jesus on the cross.’

Prosecutor Matthew Lawson said two of Esfandmozd's friends - Jacqueline Taylor and her son Jason Gubb - posed as his carers to help in the fraud.
They helped him launder the money and hide his cash from the authorities so that he could continue to receive his benefits.
Gubb, 41, put £51,000 through his bank account, which Esfandmozd used to buy his council flat. And Taylor, 65, was found with £70,000 of Esfandmozd's money.

Esfandmozd enjoyed regular holidays to America, Cyprus and Malta and invested in property, Portsmouth Crown Court heard

Pictures found in the raid at Esfandmozd's flat showed him and Gubb enjoying a hot air balloon ride in Bristol. Another showed Taylor on holiday with Esfandmozd in Malta.
Mr Lawson said: 'The benefits were means tested and not payable to anyone with assets of over £16,000.
'In order to conceal his assets from the council and ensure that his benefits continued to be paid he entered into an arrangement with Jason Gubb and Jacqueline Taylor.
'He paid them £22,000 in return for a charge in that sum over their property.
'He also purchased his property for £51,000 under the right to buy scheme with the money passing through Gubb's bank account to conceal its origins.

'You created a false persona, setting yourself up as a wheelchair user with the specific purpose of defrauding the council.'

Judge Munro

'In addition, Abdul Esfandmozd purchased premium bonds in the names of Gubb and Taylor and purchased another house for £70,000 cash.'
Judge Munro said: 'Between 2000 and 2010 you consistently and constantly lied to Portsmouth City Council in order to extract benefits to which you are not and have never been entitled.
'You are in my view one of the most dishonest and manipulative individuals ever to have come before this court.
'When it suits you, you can turn on the charm or turn on the tears. If that doesn't work you resort to threats and violence.
'You created a false persona, setting yourself up as a wheelchair user with the specific purpose of defrauding the council.'
Esfandmozd, from Portsmouth, was convicted of two counts of fraud and two of obtaining money by deception. He was also convicted of three counts of entering into a money laundering arrangement after a seven-day trial.
Gubb, from Bristol, admitted being concerned in the acquisition of criminal property between June 2006 and March 2007.
And Taylor, from Bristol, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the acquisition of criminal property between March 2002 and May 2005.
She also confessed to a charge of possessing criminal property from April last year. Gubb and Taylor will be sentenced later this month.
Esfandmozd will return to court in November when the Crown Prosecution Service will seek to claw back some of the money he claimed.
Michael Lawther, solicitor at Portsmouth City Council, said: 'Esfandmozd is a devious and greedy person who cheated the taxpayer.
'The council was responsible for exposing his fraud. Our internal checks raised suspicions about this case and prompted a full investigation into his financial affairs.
'It became clear he was a major fraudster. This case shows that fraudsters like him do not get away with their crimes.'
The lengthy investigation began in 2010 and involved the council, the police and the CPS.