Britain's biggest benefit fraud gang who stole £54m of taxpayers' cash given £2m legal aid
The five members of the gang, originally from Bulgaria, made thousands of false claims to fund a lavish lifestyle.
A gang of cheats who staged the biggest benefit fraud in British history rinsing the taxpayer of a shocking £54million were give £2million in legal aid to defend themselves.
The five crooks, all orginally from Bulgaria, carried out the brazen crime making thousands of bogus claims and splashing the cash on fast cars and luxury goods.
All of the perpetrators pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering-related offences and were jailed for between three and eight years each in May this year.
Only now has the huge legal bill from the case been revealed, which according to The Sun, can total an even higher amount as the billing process "takes several months".
It's understood work to recover the ill-gotten gains from the gang are also still underway, with investigators working with authorities in Europe.
Images from the Crown Prosecution Service were released showing members of the gang playing with stacks of cash, fast cars which were seized by police and suitcases filled with wads of money and jewellery.
Galina Nikolova, 39, Gyunesh Ali, 34, Stoyan Stoyanov, 28, Tsvetka Todorova, 53, and Patritsia Paneva, 27, were all jailed for between eight and three years in May this year.
Todorova was released from jail in June having already served 18 months of her three-year sentence on remand. She told the Telegraph the prisions in Britain were "like a vacation home".
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Speaking to The Sun about the amount of taxpayer money used in the case of the benefits cheat gang, John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “This particular case will do huge damage to the credibility of the system of legal aid.”
However, the Ministry of Justice said legal aid was necessary for “the provision of representation to ensure a fair trial”.
When the investigation finally uncovered the fraud of the gange, then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride praised the collaboration between the CPS and DWP.
He said earlier this year: "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."
