Benefit scam sees Bulgarian man pocket a whopping £2.2m from British taxpayers

A staggering £2.2 million has been pocketed by a man from Bulgaria after an elaborate Universal Credit (UC) scam which spanned from 2020 to 2024.

For a person to receive UC, strict rules must be in place when it comes to immigration and residency.

These include being in Britain, being habitually resident or exempt from habitual residence and not being subject to immigration control.

However, Tanyo Danchev, 39, was able to mastermind these strict stipulations in an elaborate scheme that lasted for four years.

Danchev was responsible for flying Bulgarians into Britain, taking them to Jobcentres where they would make fraudulent benefit claims and then drop them back at the airport to return to Bulgaria.

Danchev used the identities of his Bulgarian associates to fraudulently claim UC.

UC for 2024/25 is £311.68 per month for singles under 25, £393.45 per month for singles aged 25 and over, £489.23 per month for couples where both partners are under 25 and £617.60 per month for couples where one or both partners are aged 25 and over.

Danchev even had the audacity to claim UC for himself despite the fraudster owning several businesses back in Bulgaria.

Eventually the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) investigators were able to uncover his meticulously planned operation.

This was found after DWP found that Danchev controlled the bank cards of the Bulgarian benefit claimants which he used to withdraw the cash for himself from their accounts.

Prior to drawing out all their money, Danchev would complete the Bulgarian associates paperwork required for UC.

DWP fraud investigators were alerted to these claims being fraudulent as none of them were living in Britain.

Alarm bells rang when the associates listed companies they claimed to be working for were found to be non-operational and fictitious.

Fraud investigators were then led to Danchev’s details as he was the one using and controlling the bank cards which the benefits were going in which saw him pocket £2.2 million in cash from their accounts.

This comes after three Bulgarian women and two Bulgarian men were also caught making false UC claims.

The gang made thousands of fraudulent claims between 2016 and 2021 stealing more than £50m between them.

Danchev was sentenced at Snaresbrook Magistrates’ Court and faces seven years in prison after pleading guilty to 29 counts of fraud.