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Bulgarian gang of fraudsters, how they robbed 54 million pounds using 6 thousand identities
2024-05-30 18:16:16 / BOTA
Five Bulgarian fraudsters who mocked the Department for Work and Pensions as they raked in £54m in Britain's biggest benefit fraud scheme were jailed for more than 25 years today.
The Eastern European gang hijacked 6,000 identities applying for Universal Credit and used the names of children living in Bulgaria as part of the five-year scam.
They set up three 'benefit factories' across London issuing fake tenancy agreements, fake pay slips and fake letters from landlords, employers and GPs to dupe the DWP into.
The huge haul of money made from their 'complex financial network' was laundered through a number of accounts, then withdrawn in cash - with £750,000 in notes found filling suitcases found at one of theirs.
Today, the gang appeared before a judge at Wood Green Crown Court who said ringleader Galina Nikolova, 38, was responsible for at least £25 million stolen from UK taxpayers.
Ali, Nikolova and her boyfriend Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, along with Tsvetka Todorova, 52, and Patritsia Paneva, 26, were arrested on May 5, 2021.
Stoyanov had a tattoo of Nikolava on his right arm and posted a photo of him together with a red rose on social media.
DWP investigators searched their homes and found shopping bags filled with designer goods, Rolex watches, jackets and wads of cash.
Judge David Aaronberg said the fraud was carried out on an 'industrial scale'.
He referred to 'messages sent to Ms Paneva, including those mocking the DWP's acumen in processing fraudulent claims.
“There were also fake photographs where fraudsters claimed to own rental properties. The photographs were doctored, creating the impression that they had physical access to properties they did not in reality.
Judge Aaronberg told Nikolova: "You are personally liable for at least £25 million of the taxpayers' loot.
"The sentence I am imposing on count two is one to eight years in prison," he said.
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