site.btaInterior Minister Comments on Social Assistance Fraud Scheme in Great Britain

Several thousand people took around GBP 2,000 each in a welfare fraud scheme in Great Britain, said caretaker Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov on Tuesday.

Stoyanov commented on the topic after an article in the Times newspaper on Monday reported that Inspector Vasil Panayotov and a team from the General Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDCOC) in Sliven, led by Chief Inspector Slav Dobrev, uncovered the large-scale social assistance fraud scheme in Great Britain, exceeding GBP 53 million.

Minister Stoyanov said that he knows very well the employees who worked on the case, as well as the case itself, since it developed during the time when he was the director of GDCOC. He added that this is a large criminal group that is highly organized and well versed in UK law. He indicated that the investigation is currently ongoing in collaboration with other countries as well.

Three years ago, the Sliven team received operational information. They managed to check it, confirm it and report the materials to the prosecution service, to initiate proceedings and a little later to notify the colleagues from Great Britain, commented Stoyanov. He added that the employees will be awarded the highest honour in the Interior Ministry.