A woman who claimed to suffer from agoraphobia has been jailed for benefit fraud after travelling the world.
Tracy Johnson, 52, claimed benefits for her “severe agoraphobia” which she said meant that she could not leave the house, and yet she travelled the world writing travel guides, cook books, and novels.
During her time on disability allowance, Johnson took shopping trips to new York, a four month trip around India, and six months in Argentina, in what the Crime Prosecution Service (CPS) described as one of the worst cases of benefit fraud in recent years.
Andrew Penhale, Deputy Head of Fraud at the Crown Prosecution Service, said:
“Tracy Johnson plotted a blatant fraud against the public purse. She used taxpayers’ money to fund a lavish, globetrotting lifestyle, all the while exploiting a system designed to support society’s most vulnerable citizens.
“This is one of the worst examples of benefit fraud that we have seen. Ms Johnson claimed more than £1000 per month in benefit payments over five years, when in truth she was spending the majority of her time either travelling or working abroad.
Not only did Ms Johnson travel the globe while claiming she was ‘a prisoner in her own home’, but she also ran her own tour guide company in South America and earned money working as a wedding photographer. In 2011 she even authored a book entitled Last Tango in Buenos Aires, detailing her experiences as an English woman living in Argentina.
Making a false claim to suffer from anxiety, depression and agoraphobia undermines those who do genuinely suffer from these debilitating conditions.”
ITV News reports that she even took to social media to boast about her travels, saying on Facebook
“I am one spoilt girl. Early lunch in the Himalaya Spa. Lunch here would be two weeks’ wages in India.”
Johnson attempted to deny that she had taken these trips, claiming six months of bank transactions in Argentina was a result of her debit card being cloned, and blaming other card purchases on her son. However, a jury at Merthyr Crown Court convicted her of 13 charges – including fraud, dishonestly failing to notify a change in circumstances, and dishonestly making a false representation.
She was sentenced to one year in jail.