A Bulgarian woman involved in the UK’s biggest benefit fraud scheme who stole more than £50million has bragged that British prisons are like a “holiday”.
Tsvetka Todorova, 53, Galina Nikolova, 39, Stoyan Stoyanov, 28, Gyunesh Ali, 34, and Patritsia Paneva, 27, were sentenced to a total of 25 years and five months’ imprisonment at London’s Wood Green Crown Court last month.
The five gang members, all from Bulgaria, had previously pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering offences, with Judge David Aaronberg KC stating that they “systematically plundered” the British welfare system.
Todara, who has been given a three-year sentence but served 18 months in prison on remand, was able to leave court on a licence. She has now spoken to Bulgarian media about her experience behind British bars.
The 53-year-old said that it felt like she was in a “vacation home” and that she has even been able to get her hair done and have a manicure.
HMP Bronzefield, where Todara served out her sentence, also houses Jemma Mitchell, a woman who killed her close friend and wheeled her body around in a suitcase. Other inmates include Nicola Edgington, who murdered her own mother, and Jennifer Johnson, the former girlfriend of the Babes in the Wood killer.
“Living conditions in the prison are very good. I never felt like I was in a prison, it was like a vacation home,” she told BNT News.
“Nevertheless I was in a bad mental state in the first two months. There is a gym inside. There is a hair salon, I got a manicure there.
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HMP Bronzefield also houses Jemma Mitchell, a woman who killed her close friend and wheeled her body around in a suitcase
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“You can do your hair or makeup… There are also educational courses. I even visited an art course inside.”
She said the services only cost between £2 to £5, which made them “absolutely accessible for everybody”.
Todarra, who was also operating her own scheme from the other members, raked in £300,000 of British taxypayer’s money.
Whilst the 53-year-old has left prison, the other members of the gang remain behind bars.
Over a four-and-a-half-year period, between October 2016 and May 2021, the organised crime group made thousands of false claims for Universal Credit using either real people or false identities.
Their false claims totaled up to over £53 million, in what Judge David Aaronberg KC described as fraud on an “industrial scale”. However, Todarra has admitted that the true amount is likely much higher.
The five were sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court in North London last month
Galina Nikolova, Gyunesh Ali, Patritsia Paneva, Stoyan Stoyanov and Tsvetka Todorova (left to right, as reading) pleaded guilty to a number of offences this yearPA
During her own trial, she maintained that she had never met her co-defends before their arrest. The 53-year-old insisted that she was operating her own scheme independent of the others, and made only a relatively small amount of money.
When officers searched her North London flat, they discovered around £14,000 in cash hidden in various places around the property.
She added: “For me I can say, I haven’t won anything, I haven’t bought anything, I haven’t travelled on holiday anywhere.
“I never had a high income. In addition, I received financial support from the British state and I am very thankful for that to the British authorities.
“I want to say that I am very ashamed to be part of this. I never had any problem with UK state authorities before.”
Specialist prosecutor for the CPS Ben Reid said: “This case is the largest benefit fraud prosecution ever brought to the courts in England and Wales. For a number of years, these defendants conspired to commit industrial-scale fraud against the Universal Credit system, costing the taxpayer more than £50 million.
“Submitting thousands of false claims, the organised criminals enriched themselves from government funds designed to protect and help the most vulnerable people in our society.”
The five defendants were sentenced to the following: Nikolova, eight years; Ali, seven years and three months; Stoyanov, four years; Paneva, three years and two months; Todorova, three years.
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