A CABINET minister has blasted Britain’s biggest benefit cheats for their “cold, calculated” theft of cash for the vulnerable.
The gang of five, originally from Bulgaria, stole almost £54million from the taxpayer over four years.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride has hit out at the biggest benefit cheats in British historyGetty
One member of the Bulgarian benefits cheats gang filmed with large amounts of cashUNPIXS
They appear to shower the floor with £20 notes in an attempt to show off their wealthUNPIXS
They submitted more than 6,000 false claims from “benefit fraud factories” to get Universal Credit.
But patterns were spotted in the claims leading to raids on their homes, with police seizing luxury cars, jewellery and £750,000 cash under a bed.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride, said: “These criminals were cold and calculated in their manipulation of a system designed to help the most vulnerable people back on their feet.”
The group operated out of the back of three corner shops in Wood Green, North London, with a library of fake identities.
Each fraudulent claim was given a different mobile phone number and had an array of fake documents to support it.
Mr Stride said his department had invested £900million to tackle fraudsters — which is expected to save £2.4billion in fake claims.
He added: “Benefit fraud is not a victimless crime.
“By stealing from the most vulnerable, fraudsters put pressure on a system designed to help those who need it most — all for personal gain.”
Gyunesh Ali, 33, Patritsia Paneva, 26, Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, Tsvetka Todorova, 52, and Galina Nikolova, 38, this week admitted fraud and money laundering and will be sentenced in May.
CPSGalina Nikolova, one member of the Bulgarian gang[/caption]
CPSFellow fraudster Stoyan Stoyanov[/caption]
The gang spent Universal Credit on luxury carsCPS
Large amounts of cash were seized from a suitcase when the police conducted a raidCPS
Nikolova pictured behind the counter of a shop used as a front for their industrial-scale scams Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
