UK’s largest advantages fraudsters nicked £54m for watches, garments and automobiles
The UK’s “biggest benefits cheats” who stole more than £50million from taxpayers to fund a spending spree on high-end watches, designer clothes and flashy cars have been jailed.
The five Bulgarian nationals all previously pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering for their involvement in the scam that availed of so-called ‘benefit factories’.
Galina Nikolova, 38, Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, Tsvetka Todorova, 52, Gyunesh Ali, 33, and Patritsia Paneva, 26, made thousands of false claims using real people’s names or hijacked identities.
READ MORE: Crime spree of UK’s worst dine and dashers as couple gorged on T-bone steaks without paying
Click for more of the latest news from across the world from the Daily Star.
Judge David Aaronberg KC at Wood Green Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, May 30) said that Ali had committed fraud by false representation “on an industrial scale” during the scheme also involving the other four defendants.
(Image: Instagram)
Raids on their homes discovered bundles of cash stuffed in shopping bags and suitcases, a luxury car and designer goods including watches, jackets, and glasses.
They were sentenced to a total of 25 years and five months’ imprisonment after previously pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering-related offences.
Wood Green Crown Court previously heard how they stole the cash over a four-and-a-half-year period, between October 2016 and May 2021.
Their Universal Credit claims were supported by an array of forged documents, including fictitious tenancy agreements, counterfeit payslips and forged letters from landlords, employers, and GPs.
If the claims were rejected, the fraudsters would continue trying until they were granted.
Their criminal operation was described by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as the largest case of benefit fraud ever uncovered in England and Wales.
(Image: Instagram)
The investigation identified three ‘benefit factories’ in London where repeated false claims for benefits originated from. The businesses claimed to assist people with obtaining a National Insurance number and benefits to which they are entitled.
Once applicants made their claims for benefits through these three sources, they then left them in the hands of the organised crime group.
Ali and Nikolova were the main architects of the fraud. The judge said that under current laws the maximum sentence he could give them was 10 years and “it is only the rarest of circumstances that this would be followed”.
(Image: CPS)
Ali was sentenced to a total of seven years and six months’ imprisonment. The judge said the was some evidence of him “engaging in a lavish lifestyle” and there is video showing him showering money in the air.
Nikolova, who was found to be responsible for £25 million in losses to the taxpayer, was sentenced to a total of eight years’ imprisonment.
During the sentencing, the judge warned them they are all liable to be deported after servicing their sentences.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
