(Newswire.net — May 21, 2018) –A bodybuilder in the UK who pretended to be wheelchair-bound was caught doing a press-up challenge on video with a child on his back.
The man, Paul Gorog, tried to claim a £150,000 payout for a back injury. Gorog was also caught on film lifting weights at the gym.
The bodybuilder turned up at several benefits assessments, where he pocketed £50,000.
After QBE Insurance received a large bill for injury claims by Gorog, the company launched a surveillance claim to verify his injury.
The company uncovered footage on Gorog’s Facebook that showed him performing 22 press-ups with a child on his back in August 2016. Other social media posts included photos next to a new Mercedes and Gorog drinking expensive champagne with new jewelry.
Gorog claimed his partner, who works as a nursery nurse, owned the Mercedes.
The insurance company appealed to the county court to determine whether Gorog’s claims were fraudulent.
The bodybuilder was ordered to pay £35,000 in legal costs after a judge found he had lied about his health for years and used a wheelchair to deceive the Department of Work and Pensions. During an appearance at Manchester County Court, Gorog claimed his strongman physique was simply due to “good genetics.”
Gorog claimed to have suffered a back injury in November 2012.
The bodybuilder’s story began unraveling in 2015 when he was involved in a high-speed chase with the police that ended with him jumping over a hedge, tossing a mobile phone and drugs to avoid being arrested.
That same year, Gorog was convicted of assault.
Gorog attempted to abandon his claim when confronted by the insurance company, but QBE pursued the man through the court system.
News of Gorog’s case comes less than a month after a UK woman was found guilty of using a wheelchair to con a vulnerable man out of £10,000.
The woman, Yulanda Panayiotou, claimed that she couldn’t have cheated the man because she is in a wheelchair. The woman even attended the trial in a wheelchair. But CCTV footage caught Panayiotou running and walking around a convenience store.
It took less than two hours for a jury to find the woman guilty on 12 charges of fraud and two counts of theft of credit cards and a bank book.
Panayiotou was supposed to be helping the man clear the garden and do his shopping, as he was having health problems. The woman asked for his credit card to do the shopping, but never returned the card. A few days later, she asked for another bank card, which she also failed to return.
Panayiotou continued to help with housework, and all the while, opened accounts in the man’s name, including online gambling accounts, store cards and mobile phone contracts. She also intercepted his deliveries and mail.
The woman maxed out the victim’s credit cards, racking up a total of £10,500 in debt. She was arrested in January last year, and denied all 14 charges.
Panayiotou was given an 18-month prison sentence and was ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid community work. The credit card company refunded the money to the victim.