Multi-million-pound scam: Five Bulgarians convicted in UK’s largest-ever benefits fraud (update)

Five Bulgarian nationals have been convicted in the largest ever case of benefit fraud in the UK.

The five members of the organised criminal gang falsely claimed more than £50 million in social benefits.

Bulgarian nationals, Galina Nikolova, 38, Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, Tsvetka Todorova, 52, Gyunesh Ali, 33, and Patritsia Paneva, 26, have all pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering related offences at Wood Green Crown Court for their involvement in a multi-million-pound scam on the benefit system.

Ben Reid, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “This case is the largest benefit fraud prosecution ever brought to the courts in England and Wales.

These defendants conspired to commit industrial-scale fraud against the social benefits system, costing the taxpayer more than £50 million. 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, Ben Reid said.

Over a four-and-a-half-year period, between October 2016 and May 2021, this organised crime group siphoned off £53.9 million from the main welfare benefit in the UK and it is currently claimed by nearly 6 million people - people both in and out of work.

The fraudsters used "a sophisticated combination of legitimate identity documents and fake documentation to make it appear that they were eligible to benefits when they were not".

They used either real people or hijacked identities. The claims were supported by an array of forged documents, including fictitious tenancy agreements, counterfeit payslips and forged letters from landlords, employers, and GPs.

The money gained from these fraudulent claims was then laundered as it was moved between a number of accounts through numerous transfers and withdrawn in cash.

Footage, found on a phone during the investigation, shows them throwing multiple £20 notes in the air in a flat.

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.

The five were arrested in May 2021.Gyunesh Ali fled to Bulgaria after being released on bail but was extradited back to the UK on 25 February 2023 so that he could face justice.

The raid uncovered hundreds of forged or false documents, wads of cash in suitcases and shopping bags, a car and designer goods. All five have pleaded guilty and their sentences are expected to be handed down on 28 May.

The five Bulgarians are to be sentenced on 28 May.