Authorities wasted no time in apprehending a woman and taking away her free ride, as soon as they saw what she had posted on Facebook. The woman, however, has been claiming that she couldn’t even afford to buy food, following then; she has been receiving over $230,000 in taxpayer benefits for years!
Posing next to luxury cars and at the openings of upscale boutiques, was likely so bizarre for the 32-year-old, Carina Reid who led a successful career as a model for 5 years. As she was struggling to even pay for meals and losing everything she owned, then suddenly fell into a pit of financial despair.
However, it garnered the suspicion that maybe the struggling model wasn’t being entirely honest. When it was known that Reid incredibly had secured a flat by putting up a deposit of $25,800, which is a feat for even well-off individuals, in a lavish UK apartment on Chelsea’s sought-after King’s Road, but despite all of this, Reid was claiming to be utterly destitute.
But as soon as the authorities learned what the young beauty was sharing on Facebook, they took swift action to make sure she could no longer get welfare payments. Prior to that, authorities have been suspicious of Reid’s lifestyle. The first of several red flags was when Reid accumulated more than $64,000 in housing assistance despite having an apartment in West London.
Reid was only caught after authorities saw posts Reid had made of herself traveling to other places, riding in helicopters, drinking champagne, and dining at the most expensive gourmet restaurants. Reid was then arrested and sentenced to 3 years in prison after the Isleworth Crown Court determined that she laid claim to $232,564 in benefits, which she used to fund an extraordinarily lavish lifestyle, according to Daily Mail.
Reid, who ran the cosmetics company Enhance Medica and had a successful career as a model-for-hire, applied for benefits from Kensington and Chelsea Council on the grounds that she wasn’t making enough money from her job, as per Evening Standard. However, her advantages were also increasing as well as her business.
“A profile of Reid on the Enhance website said she was a “senior medical aesthetician” who had “worked with a wide range of clientele, from VIP film stars, TV and radio presenters as well as on magazine shoots and celebrity events.”
On Facebook, Reid foolishly posted details of her spending binges, which included a trip to Dubai where she used taxpayer funds to pay for an apartment for $150,000. And in an effort to avoid being discovered, she had accrued over $230,000 in assistance, which she divided up into 19 different bank accounts, almost the course of time.
Including luxury holidays in Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, France, and Hong Kong, Reid’s taxpayer-funded adventures took her all over the world. At the same time, she was bragging about her excessive spending under the moniker Cara Delmonte. But upon returning home, Reid lamented that she had to accept food from her local mosque in order to stay afloat.
In February 2014, she went skiing in Davos and posted: “It’s bloody hard. I’m aching but surviving. Might give snowboarding a whirl too.”
During a trip to Macau, Hong Kong, she wrote: “Getting over the pool party yesterday so relaxing and chilling with millionnaires drinking champagne and Pimms!”
Well, ironically Reid was successful in getting a mortgage based on actual tax filings that demonstrated the success of her cosmetics company. The council’s anti-fraud unit eventually learned about her scheme, but it took way too long.
Ultimately, Reid entered a plea of guilty to 9 counts of fraudulently claiming housing and tax benefits, receiving a 3-year jail term. Her case holds the record for one of the worst penalties ever imposed for benefit fraud in London.
Andreja Oblak, 31, a barista at a coffee shop opposite Enhance’s outlet in Old York Road, said: “I can’t believe it. She always seemed so polite and sophisticated. I can’t believe she was such a scammer and she was ripping us all off to pay for her lifestyle.”
A neighbour at her block in Kings Road said: “It’s a shock. We barely saw her because of her jetset lifestyle. She was always partying and just gave the impression of being very successful.”
The council found that she had only been overpaid by about $66,000 while leading a luxurious lifestyle, indicating that the remaining benefits were justified. Nevertheless, none of the money has been recovered nor is it expected to be fully repaid, despite her prison sentence.
Sadly, the funds won’t be distributed to individuals who actually require welfare assistance in order to regain their footing. Thanks to Reid’s intricate scam, the taxpayers have to eat the cost of her escapades.
Although Reid was sentenced to prison, many believe that this wasn’t enough to punish her. In fact, despite no longer traveling the world on a private plane, some have noted that she continues to live for free on the taxpayers’ dime.
Sources: TapHaps, DailyMail, EveningStandard