5 Bulgarian Fraudsters Convicted In The UK – 2024
5 Bulgarian Fraudsters Convicted In The UK
Fraud on a Massive Factory Scale
Primary Category: Criminal Justice
Authors:
• SCARS Editorial Team – Society of Citizens Against Relationship Scams Inc.
• Portions by Daily Mail
About This Article
Five Bulgarian fraudsters who defrauded the UK’s Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) of £54 million have been jailed for over 25 years. The gang hijacked 6,000 identities to claim Universal Credit, using children’s names from Bulgaria.
They operated three ‘benefit factories’ in London, producing fake tenancy agreements, payslips, and letters to trick the DWP. The group flaunted their wealth on social media, with photos showing them at Antonia’s Foods supermarket in Wood Green. Ringleader Galina Nikolova, 38, was sentenced to eight years for her key role in the scam, which Judge David Aaronberg described as being conducted on an ‘industrial scale’. Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, received four years, while Gyunesh Ali, 33, was jailed for seven years and three months. Tsvetka Todorova, 52, and Patritsia Paneva, 26, received three years each.