DWP boss who fiddled £45,000 in sick pay as he toured the world isn’t put behind bars as decide says he has ‘used his get out of jail free card’

A senior civil servant who pocketed £45,000 in sick pay while jetting around the world has escaped jail – after a judge ruled he could stay free because of his wife’s poor health.

Maurice Okello, 39, a Department for Work and Pensions policy adviser, spun an elaborate web of lies claiming he was gravely ill with malaria after being bitten by a mosquito at his father’s funeral in Kenya.

But instead of recuperating in bed, the DWP boss was busy globe-trotting to luxury destinations including Tampa, Mexico City, Boston, Gothenburg, Kos, Marrakesh and Brussels – all while pocketing taxpayer-funded sick pay.

The shameless fraudster carried out his sick note scam between December 2022 and September 2023, hoping no one at the DWP would notice his high-flying lifestyle.

Okello was given a suspended sentence at Southwark crown court after a judge accepted his wife really is ill.

Judge Martin Griffith told him: ‘Over a period of getting on for a year you helped yourself to while working as a civil servant. That was a total of £45,000.

‘You willingly helped yourself to money that was available and hoped that nobody would pick up on it.

‘People are rightly fed up with civil servants doing this sort of thing and there may come a time when a very serious view is taken on these things.

The judge added: ‘I am not going to lock you up today.’

But he added: ‘£45,000 is a very substantial sum of money. You abused your position. What you did was sophisticated in nature and you did it over a long period of time.

‘There is an argument that in these circumstances, where a civil servant helped himself to that amount of money, that the only thing the courts should do is lock him up.’

But Judge Griffith acknowledged that Okello aims to pay back some of the money in compensation.

‘I bear in mind the difficulties we have these days having run out of money… You offer the prospect of paying compensation.’

The judge also acknowledged that his partner, who is ill, would be affected if he was given an immediate custodial sentence.

‘I consider that you have a real prospect of rehabilitation and that you will not stand in the dock again. I bear in mind the significant effect that an immediate sentence would have on your partner.’

He was given an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

He will have to complete 10 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement and 80 hours of unpaid work.

Okello will have to pay £800 a month in compensation for 16 months, with his aunt contributing £600.

After that he will have to pay £200 for a further 20 months, and he will therefore pay around £16,800 in compensation.

The judge told Okello: ‘If you’ve ever played Monopoly you’ve used your get out of jail free card and you won’t get another one.’

Earlier Nathan Palmer, prosecuting, said: ‘In summary, he was an employee at the Department for Work and Pensions, and he forged a sick note so that he could claim his salary while claiming he was off work for ill health.’

As part of his role he was able to travel using DWP funds.

‘We was able to make bookings for authorised travel’, said Mr Palmer.

But he used his position to ‘pay for unauthorised travel for himself and others.’

Okello messaged his line manager, Dominic Kelly, telling him that he had been unwell and had to spend time in hospital.

‘He said that he had returned from Kenya to attend his father’s funeral and had contracted malaria’.

Mr Kelly told him that he would need a sick note so he provided a fake document from the Park Royal medical practice stating he had the potentially fatal disease.

Later Mr Kelly was copied into an email which showed Okello had booked a hotel in London.

‘Mr Kelly was concerned about this as Mr Okello was a London-based member of staff,’ said Mr Palmer.

Mr Kelly then discovered unauthorised trips that Okello had booked to Boston, Marrakesh and Mexico City, and he was suspended.

The Met Police was contacted, and it was confirmed that the sick notes were fake.

‘The certificates appeared to be counterfeit’, said Mr Palmer.

He added: ‘Mr Okello was in fact in Sweden when he claimed to be unwell’.

‘The total value of the fraud was £45,615. We will be seeking a compensation order of £45,615. You will of course have to make inquiries into Mr Okello’s circumstances.’

Remus Cozma, defending said: ‘He accepts his responsibility for the offences. He has demonstrated remorse and that is set out in the probation report.’

She said that his partner had been diagnosed with cancer, and depended on Okello to look after her.

‘She has no other relatives in the UK to support her.’

She added that Okello had been diagnosed as bipolar when he was a teenager, and had been on medication in the past.

‘At the time he tells me it was exacerbated by his workload and the pressure he was under, and that he was caring for his grandfather who was unwell at the time,’ the barrister added.

Okello, from northwest London, admitted two counts of fraud.