Five Bulgarians from an organized criminal group were found guilty in Great Britain in a case defined by the prosecution as the biggest fraud in England and Wales, the BBC reported, BTA reported.
The gang involved three women and two men - all from Bulgaria, who submitted thousands of false aid applications to the Universal Credit system over a period of four and a half years. Each of its members separately admitted to a court in London that they stole more than 50 million pounds. All five pleaded guilty to fraud charges and also pleaded guilty to money laundering offences.
Universal Credit is the main welfare system in the UK and currently benefits 5.8 million people – both employed and unemployed, the BBC points out. When it launched in 2013, the government said it was designed to limit opportunities for fraud and error. However, as the system expands, fraud levels rise, reaching their highest level during the pandemic when the rules that applicants must follow are relaxed.
⚖️ Five members of an organized criminal gang, which falsely claimed more than £50 million in Universal Credit in the largest benefit fraud in England and Wales, have been convicted.
— Crown Prosecution Service (@CPSUK) April 10, 2024
📰 Find out how we worked with @DWPgovuk to prosecute them here https://t.co/aXRzA0kyhG pic.twitter.com/nBoWOCPeXk
According to the prosecutor's office, the members of the gang - 33-year-old Gunesh Ali, 38-year-old Galina Nikolova, 27-year-old Stoyan Stoyanov, 52-year-old Tsvetka Todorova and 26-year-old Patritsia Paneva - submitted thousands of false applications for aid, using information of real people or stolen identities. The prosecution's allegations were supported by a range of evidence, including forged documents, fictitious leases, false payslips and forged letters from landlords, employers and GPs.
When their requests were rejected, the fraudsters tried again and again until they succeeded, the prosecutor's office added. Investigation identifies three "aid factories" in the Wood Green area of North London, where the repeated false claims for benefits originated. The companies involved claimed to be helping people get a National Insurance Number and the benefits they are entitled to.
However, investigators found that after applications for aid were submitted from these three sources, the funds remained in the hands of the organized crime group. The money was then laundered through numerous bank accounts or cashed out. The false applications were submitted between October 2016 and May 2021. A prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service said the case was "the largest prosecution for benefit fraud ever heard in the courts of England and Wales". "The defendants conspired to commit fraud on an industrial scale against the Universal Credit system," he added.
When the group members were arrested in May 2021, hundreds of fake or forged documents were found, as well as wads of cash – some of them stuffed in suitcases, an Audi car and branded goods, including glasses, watches and jackets, prosecutors said. Gunesh Ali fled to Bulgaria after being released on bail and had to be extradited back to Britain. It is expected that the five Bulgarians will be sentenced on May 28.