A CHEF who claimed he could barely walk after an accident had a £2.2million compo claim binned — when he was snapped kayaking with his kids.
Ferenc Sumegi, 49, who said he needed sticks or crutches to get around and lived in “unbearable pain”, was judged to be “fundamentally dishonest” by a court.
Ferenc Sumegi strained his back lifting a fish tray at Heathrow and claimed he spent 18 hours-a-day lying down
His case was thrown out of court after evidence emerged showing him kayaking with his kids
It comes as we expose trickster Ruth Harris, 58 — snapped on a zipwire after playing the system for 13 years to claim £71,201 in Disability Living Allowance.
Court records show Mr Sumegi strained his back in 2012 when lifting a fish tray at Heathrow Airport, where he prepared airline meals.
He said the injury put him on his back 18 hours a day and stopped him kneeling, squatting and taking from taking his kids to the park.
He returned to work with Gate Gourmet UK but said he had to quit in June, 2013.
Mr Sumegi, of Berkshire, claimed £2.2million for his alleged “significant and continuing disability”.
He said he was unable to work as a chef and he could not lift or make “sudden movements”.
He told a doctor he resorted to holding on to furniture to get around his Berkshire home.
Gate Gourmet insisted any symptoms from his injury, which they accepted he had suffered, would have cleared up within 14 months and said his claim was worth £4,970.
A covert surveillance operation unearthed photos of Mr Sumgi “vigorously throwing a stick for his dog” and kneeling in the sand burying his daughter at the beach.
In one, he was in a river with a daughter on each shoulder and his arms in the air.
He was also snapped fishing and paddle boarding.
Video showed him walking, filling up his car and shopping with no “discernible difficulty”.
A judge dismissed his case in March last year.
He was refused permission to appeal by the High Court last week which ruled the earlier judgment against him a “model of fairness”.
He must pay £75,000 court costs.
Ruth Harris claimed she could not work as she had multiple sclerosis
Evience showed her enjoying a zip-wire ride over a lake at Adrenalin Quarry in Liskeard, Cornwall
Ruth Harris, meanwhile, claimed she could not work as she had multiple sclerosis.
Evidence was obtained of her standing and pricing up items at a shop and passing heavy items over a wall.
Further snaps showed the claimant, from Plymouth, enjoying a zip-wire ride over a lake at Adrenalin Quarry in Liskeard, Cornwall.
She was given a 12-month conditional discharge at Plymouth crown court and must repay the £71,201.
Work and Pensions minister Tom Pursglove investigators in the Harris case “hit the heights” with their probe and ahd “taken down this thrill-seeking con artist”.
He said: “Benefit fraud is a crime that diverts money away from those who really need it, which is why we’re investing £600million on preventing, detecting, and deterring fraudsters from abusing the system.”
