London - A beggar is funding a string of sunshine breaks by raking money off celebrities and millionaires - using a chip and PIN machine so they can pay by bank card.
Damien Preston-Booth has the portable card reader to accept donations because the rich “don’t carry much cash”.
The 37-year-old, who is on benefits because he is too depressed to work, sets up camp outside upmarket nightclubs and restaurants in London’s Mayfair and regularly bumps into stars including Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh.
And the rich pickings have helped him enjoy holiday breaks in Paris, Ibiza, Bruges and Monaco in the last year alone.
One friend on Thursday said Preston-Booth claimed London’s streets were “paved with gold”.
“It was a regular Dick Whittington story and he had us all jealous,” he said. “He turned scrounging into a fine art.”
However, on Thursday night sources said an investigation would be launched to establish whether Preston-Booth, a former cleaner, had committed benefit fraud. The beggar is thought to have moved from Manchester to target nightspots in the capital such as Loulou’s - a favourite with Hollywood A-listers and pop stars.
He is also thought to favour top hotels such as The Dorchester, Claridge’s and The Ritz.
Reports claim he even barges through the waiting paparazzi and asks for cash, knowing many stars will not dare turn down a homeless man in front of the cameras. He reportedly earned £4 500 (R84 000) before Christmas and pocketed £1 000 (R17 500) in a single handout from a rich Arab woman out with her children on New Year’s Day.
On Thursday he posted a picture of himself with music mogul Simon Cowell on Facebook, complaining: “Simon didn’t give me 50 pounds, it was 20.” The chip and PIN machine is linked by Bluetooth to his Samsung smartphone, with the cash going into a PayPal account. The donor receives a receipt via text or email. Preston-Booth told The Sun he claims £100 (R1 750) in benefits every fortnight and lives hand-to-mouth - insisting he has ‘nothing to hide’. He added: ‘I’m saving up for a little flat and I’m trying to get a CV together so I can get a job.’
However, his earnings from begging have allowed him to buy an Apple iPad and a £60 (R1 050) Tassimo Bosch coffee machine.
He rents a £75-a-week (R1 313) one-bed flat worth around £58 000 (R 1 015 497) in Preston and also posted dozens of pictures of his holidays - partying in Ibiza and sauntering on the seafront in Monaco.
But workers in Mayfair have complained about his sponging, with one saying he is the “wealthiest beggar I have ever seen”. One employee at Ladbrokes described how instead of asking for spare change, he would shout: ‘Has anyone got £500 or £1,000?’.
Police are also looking to ban the beggar from Mayfair after he allegedly harassed a female customer at Lebanese restaurant Noura last month.
They have asked the manager for a statement in order to apply for a criminal behaviour order that could oust Preston-Booth from the area.
On Thursday night a source at the Department of Work and Pensions said reports of benefit claimants fraudulently earning money while declaring themselves unfit for work would be automatically investigated.
Daily Mail