Five people have pleaded guilty to numerous charges involving
creating false Universal Credit claims worth
£53,901,959.82.
DWP
investigators worked to track and catch the fraudsters, gathering
extensive evidence of false tenancy agreements and shell
companies created to show false employment claims, including
counterfeit payslips and GP notes. The group also created many
false identity documents.
The courts will now proceed with sentencing the defendants as the
DWP and
CPS work to
recover the money stolen.
Secretary of State for the Department for Work and Pensions, Mel
Stride MP, said:
I am immensely proud of DWP investigators'
work, in collaboration with the Crown Prosecution Service, to
take down this organised crime group.
Building on our success in preventing £18 billion going into the
wrong hands in 2022/23, these convictions underline our
commitment to protecting taxpayers' money. It is only right and
fair that we bring those stealing from the public purse to
justice.
Minister responsible for tackling benefit fraud, Paul Maynard MP,
added:
Our investigators are working tirelessly to catch benefit cheats
and this case builds upon our plan to save £1.3 billion on fraud
and error.
At the same time, our Fraud Plan will help us implement a
long-term strategy to minimise fraud and error and ensure value
and fairness for the taxpayer.
Ben Reid, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS, said:
This case is the largest benefit fraud prosecution ever brought
to the courts in England and Wales.
This was a complex and challenging case which required close and
effective working between CPS prosecutors, the
Department for Work and Pensions and our international partners
in both Bulgaria and through the UK desk at Eurojust, to
dismantle and successfully prosecute the organised crime group.
The guilty pleas entered by all five defendants, reflects the
strength of the evidence against them.
The CPS Proceeds
of Crime Division will now pursue confiscation proceedings
against the defendants, to remove from them any available
criminal benefit from this enterprise.
The defendants who have pleaded guilty at Wood Green Crown Court
were: Galina Nikolova, 38; Stoyan Stoyanov, 27; Tsvetka Todorova,
52, Gyunesh Ali, 33, and Patritsia Paneva, 26. All defendants are
of Bulgarian nationality.
The defendants laundered money from the false benefit claims and
sent incriminating WhatsApp messages that shared forged
documents.
Investigators also found “claim packs” at the houses of
defendants, which were created for others to make false benefit
claims and included false documents such as bank statements, fake
photographic identification, and forged information on
dependants.
Additional items seized included bundles of cash stuffed into
shopping bags and suitcases, designer goods such as watches,
jackets and glasses, and a luxury car.
This latest case comes as the government continues to turn the
tide on benefit cheats. DWP's Fighting Fraud in the
Welfare System plan, backed by £900 million over three years,
bolsters the counter-fraud frontline with measures including
trained specialists to review millions of Universal Credit
claims.
This counter fraud clampdown, together with wider benefit checks
and controls, saved at least £18 billion in 2022/23 and saw fraud
and error fall by 10 percent.
DWP is now
pushing to go further with a target to save the taxpayer £1.3
billion through counter fraud and error in 2023/24.
Additional Information:
