A BROTHEL, BIGAMY AND A GAY CONMAN; It's all in a day's work for the pension fraud-busters.

Byline: CAROLINE WHEELER

PENSION fraud investigators have revealed how they exposed a bigamist and brothel during investigations into crooked claims.

Andthey told how criminals are going to extraordinary lengths to defraud cash from Midland councils - including taking on the identity of DEAD former employees.

Mike Woodall is chief administration officer for the West Midlands Metropolitan Authorities Pension Fund. It pays pensions to around 55,000 retired council employees, at a cost of pounds 180 million a year.

The fraudbuster hasexposed dozens of crooks who, nationally, are costing the British taxpayer up to pounds 200 million a year.

He said: 'The lengths people will go to, to con money out of councils and companies never ceases to amaze me.

'We have exposed a brothel and a bigamist during investigations into fraudulent claims - although I cannot go into details because of client confidentiality.

'I have also dealt with a gay couple where one of the partners tried to pretend to be his boyfriend's dead dad!' Mr Woodhall also deals with pension claims involving exemployees now living abroad - where more extreme frauds have taken place.

He said: 'In Africa, some former employees have to produce a thumbprint as proof of ID. We heard of one case where a man cut off his dead relative's thumb in order to make a false claim.

'And we have been told about another case where someone actually took a corpse in to a bank in an attempt to draw out his dead dad's pension.'

The pension fund employs a number of covert measures to crack down on pension crime.

One tactic includes employing a firm of excustoms and excise officers who travel abroad to check whether former employees are still alive.

'We have a database where we can cross reference pensioners' names with recently registered deaths,' Mr Woodhall said.

'We also employ a firm who visit some of our overseas clients who we suspect may have died.'

It is estimated one in 100 people deliberately fail to tell pension schemes their relatives have died, so they can continue to pocket the cash - sometimes for years.

Figures compiled by accountants BDO Stoy Hayward and corporate investigations company Keypoint Services reveal that around 100,000 such claims are being made.

The most common fraud involves forging a dead relative's signature on a 'certificate of existence'.

There are around11 million pensioners in Britain, claiming pounds 44 billion in state pensions each year.

In most cases recipients only have to sign an annual form, proving they are still alive.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Work and Pensions said: 'We take pension fraud very seriously. We are making it harder for people to commit this type of fraud by cross-checking information with other departments.'