Watch: Gang member convicted of 'industrial scale' £50m benefit fraud throws stack of £20 notes in the air
9 April 2024, 16:28 | Updated: 10 April 2024, 09:13
One of five Bulgarian nationals who falsely claimed £50m in Universal Credit filmed themselves throwing a stack of £20 notes in the air.
The criminal threw the notes one by one and waited for an unknown woman to pick them up.
Stacks of cash tied with rubber bands were also shown in a separate video.
The benefit fraud gang made thousands of false claims for Universal Credit using either real people or hijacked identities and backed them up with an array of forged documents, including counterfeit payslips and fake GP letters in the largest prosecution of its type in English legal history.
As part of the investigation, police identified three "benefit factories" in London where repeated false claims for benefits originated from.
During raids, police also found "claim packs" containing forged and false documents, as well as bundles of cash stuffed in shopping bags and suitcases, a luxury car, and designer goods including watches, jackets, and glasses.
Bulgarian nationals Galina Nikolova, 38, Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, Tsvetka Todorova, 52, Gyunesh Ali, 33, and Patritsia Paneva, 26, have now pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering-related offences.
Ben Reid, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, described it as a "complex and challenging case" which required "close and effective work" between UK authorities and international partners in Bulgaria and the European Union crime agency, Eurojust.
"This case is the largest benefit fraud prosecution ever brought to the courts in England and Wales," he said.
"For a number of years, these defendants conspired to commit industrial-scale fraud against the Universal Credit system, costing the taxpayer more than £50m.
"Submitting thousands of false claims, the organised criminals enriched themselves from government funds designed to protect and help the most vulnerable people in our society."
He said the CPS and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would now launch confiscation proceedings against the defendants in an attempt to recoup the stolen money.
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Mel Stride MP, Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions, said: "I am immensely proud of DWP investigators' work, in collaboration with the Crown Prosecution Service, to take down this organised crime group.
"Building on our success in preventing £18bn going into the wrong hands in 2022/23, these convictions underline our commitment to protecting taxpayers' money. It is only right and fair that we bring those stealing from the public purse to justice."
The gang operated over a four-and-a-half-year period, between October 2016 and May 2021 - when they were first arrested.
Following his release under investigation, one of the five defendants, Ali, fled the country to Bulgaria.
However, in February last year, following joint work with Bulgarian authorities, he was extradited back to the UK so that he could face justice.
All five defendants will appear for sentencing at Wood Green Crown Court in May.
(c) Sky News 2024: Watch: Gang member convicted of 'industrial scale' £50m benefit fraud throws stack of £20 notes in the air
