A Bulgarian defrauded British taxpayers of 2, 2 million pounds, the "Sunday Telegraph" newspaper reported, the BNR reported.
The scheme involved flying Bulgarians to the UK, taking them to job centers to present themselves as benefit applicants, and flying them back to Bulgaria again.
From 2020 to 2024, Tanyo Danchev used the names and identities of his compatriots to claim the so-called "Universal credit". He organized the trip of Bulgarian "associates" by plane to the UK. He would then pick them up from the airport and drive them to government offices called Job centres. They offer information and advice on available jobs and are involved in the administration of unemployment benefits. There, the Bulgarians personally filled out the applications for benefits before Danchev returned them to the airport for a flight to their homeland.
Earlier this month Danchev, 39, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to 29 counts of fraud at Snaresbrook Magistrates' Court.
Fraud investigators at the Department for Work and Pensions found that he controlled the bank cards of the other Bulgarians involved in the fraud, and that he withdrew £2.2 million in cash from their accounts.
The Bulgarians were not eligible to claim "Universal Credit" because they were not UK residents, investigators found, and the companies they claimed to work for were fake and out of business.
Earlier this year, a Bulgarian gang of five was convicted of Britain's biggest benefits fraud, worth more than £50 million.