Gang That Filmed Themselves Tossing Money Convicted of £54m Benefit-Fraud Scheme

Five Bulgarian nationals were convicted for falsely claiming £50m in the “largest [ever] benefit fraud in England and Wales” – and one of them filmed themselves throwing a stack of £20 notes in the air, footage released on April 9 showed.

In the footage, released by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), one of the criminals is seen throwing the notes one by one and waiting for an unknown woman to pick them up. A wad of the cash is then thrown on the floor. Further stacks of cash tied with rubber bands are also shown in a additional footage.

The CPS said the gang submitted “thousands of false claims…enriching themselves from government funds designed to protect and help the most vulnerable people in our society.”

The gang used “benefit factories” in London between 2016 and 2021, making repeated false claims for benefits pretending to be businesses that would assist people and obtaining their national insurance numbers. Applicants made claims through the businesses, which were then used by the organized crime group to gain benefit money from the government.

The CPS released the footage following the conviction of Bulgarians Gyunesh Ali, Patritsia Paneva, Galina Nikolova, Stoyan Stoyanov, and Tsvetka Todorova. All pled guilty and will be sentenced in May. Credit: CPS via Storyful

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