Bulgarian UC benefit scammers took at least £50m, possibly £250m per annum, via complex fraud.

[Papyrophile]

There's a trial happening in north London right now, with five Bulgarians in the dock for organising the largest benefit fraud operation ever in the UK. It was detected by the Bulgarian police. Where were the UK authorities during this? Asleep?

A link to the Telegraph, but paywalled, so good luck accessing it. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/28/bulgarian-town-boomed-from-uks-biggest-benefits-fraud/

No one said there was only an EU benefits system!

Believe me I do hold the UK accountable!

No I don’t think ongoing fraud has stopped at all, this is the tip of the iceberg I suspect.

Thank god free movement has stopped.

Half of the population that bothered to vote then if you want to be precise!

It would be great if there could be a real crackdown on benefit fraud, tax avoidance and tax evasion instead of politicians just going for the lazy option of increasing taxes.

What about insiders who owe HMRC over 1bn £ from tax avoidance?

I never claimed benefits but in our families we work endless hours and pay a lot in income tax and the target for tax raises. It is infuriating to read this. If it was this easy there must be more cases.

True

It makes me wonder if there are insiders in the system turning a blind eye. What a terrible situation

Of course there are, why scrutinise their mates and themselves when they can boost their ratings with DM readers and reshifting people's attention towards migrants rather than the real issues.

FYI tax avoidance is legal. Eg interest on savings in an ISA are not taxed. Tax evasion is illegal, ie taking steps to not pay or hide what you owe. Obviously tax inspectors (who are not rich and I suspect have few rich mates!) need to be more numerous and well-supported.

Something clearly needs to change. These benefit fraudsters should be the catalyst for overhauling the system. For a start, no child benefit for non-resident in UK children.