Catching Britain's biggest benefit fraudsters

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For almost two years, police have been tracking the movements of a group of fraudsters based in north London, who saw an opportunity to make vast sums of money. It began at a time when the country was struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy was largely shut down. Their target was the welfare system, their methods were complex and professional - and their rewards were huge. They claimed more than £50 million in fraudulent claims for Universal Credit. The 5 people behind the fraud, all Bulgarian nationals have been jailed. They admitted making 6000 fraudulent claims for Universal Credit and stealing £53.9m from the taxpayer. Asked how the gang had managed to scam the benefits system for nearly 5 years, the DWP said that the complexity of the case, the mass of intelligence needed to be worked through and the need to secure police resources all meant that arrests weren’t possible before May 2021. In this episode of our 5 Minutes On podcast, our social affairs correspondent Michael Buchanan has been following the people who caught the fraudsters behind Britain's biggest benefit scam. (Credit: BBC)