Leytonstone, member of Britain’s biggest fraud gang, jailed

An investigation has identified three “benefit factories” in London where repeated false claims for benefits originated

Five members of an organized crime gang who falsely claimed more than £53 million in Universal Credit in the biggest ever benefit fraud in England and Wales have been jailed.

Bulgarian nationals Galina Nikolova, aged 39 and of Wightman Road, Harringay; Stoyan Stoyanov, aged 28 and of Wightman Road, Harringay; Tsvetka Todorova, aged 53 and of Holly Hill Road, Erith; Gyunesh Ali, aged 34, formerly of Beech Road, Friern Barnet; and Patritsia Paneva, aged 27 and of Melford Road, Leytonstone, were sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court to a total of more than 25 years after pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering offences.

They were all involved in a multi-million pound fraud on the benefits system and were jailed for eight years, four years, three years, seven years and three months, three years and two months respectively.

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Ben Reid, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: “This case is the biggest prosecution for benefit fraud ever brought before the courts in England and Wales.

“Over a number of years, these defendants conspired to commit fraud on an industrial scale against the Universal Credit system, costing the taxpayer more than £53m.

“By making thousands of false claims, organized criminals have enriched themselves from government funds meant to protect and help the most vulnerable people in our society.

“This was a complex and challenging case which required close and effective collaboration between CPS prosecutors, the Department for Work and Pensions and our international partners both in Bulgaria and through Eurojust’s UK office to break down and to successfully pursue the organized crime group. The guilty pleas entered by all five defendants reflected the strength of the evidence against them.

“The CPS and DWP will now proceed with confiscation proceedings against the defendants to strip them of any criminal benefit available from this enterprise.”

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