Tracy Johnson claimed £50,000 ($84,000/€60,700) of disability payments

Apr 24, 2014 18:39 GMT  ·  By
Tracy Johnson spent six months in Argentina while receiving cold winter payments
   Tracy Johnson spent six months in Argentina while receiving cold winter payments

A globe-trotting benefits cheat who claimed to be agoraphobic has been sentenced to one year in jail after traveling the world at the taxpayers' expense.

Tracy Johnson, Frome, Somerset, falsely claimed £50,000 ($84,000/€60,700) of disability payments and was convicted of 13 charges of fraud, dishonestly making a false representation and failing to notify a change in circumstances between January 2008 and July 2012.

The 52-year-old woman even said she was housebound as a result of the condition, mentioning that her alleged agoraphobia was caused by post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.

She pretended she was so unwell that she could hardly leave her house. But while the state was sending her cold winter payments, the former model was working as a travel guides writer and tour operator in Argentina. Her alleged depression, hallucinations, anxiety, and blackouts miraculously disappeared when she traveled to other countries.

Daily Mail informs us that Johnson lied to the authorities claiming she was a “prisoner in her own home,” but she was actually enjoying a lavish lifestyle in various exotic locations, like India or Argentina.

The benefits cheat also traveled to New York, Madrid and London, where she spent the money she received on luxurious shopping sprees.

“It was absolute, blatant dishonesty. Tracy Johnson was living the life that honest, decent, hard working taxpayers could only dream of,” Prosecutor Joanna James said.

According to authorities, Johnson claimed more than £1,000 ($1,680 or €1,210) per month in benefit payments over five years. But her unscrupulous scheme was disclosed after an anonymous tip-off about her whereabouts.

During the trial, it was revealed that while living in Argentina, Johnson ran her own tour company called Northwest Nomads, taking holidaymakers through the vineyards of the country, and earned money working as a wedding photographer.

The woman claimed someone in the South American country had cloned her card, that's why huge amounts of money were withdrawn for cash machines there. However, when police searched her home, luggage tags were found on her suitcases.

She was sentenced to one year in prison by Merthyr Tydfil crown court, while the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) called her scam “one of the worst examples of benefit fraud.”

“Your actions amounted to a sustained and multiple benefit fraud involving a substantial amount of public money to which you were not entitled. There are significant and aggravating features about the case,” Judge Andrew Grubb told her.