Five members of an organised criminal gang, which falsely claimed more than £50 million in Universal Credit in the largest benefit fraud in England and Wales, have been convicted.

Bulgarian nationals, Galina Nikolova, 38, Stoyan Stoyanov, 27, Tsvetka Todorova, 52, Gyunesh Ali, 33, and Patritsia Paneva, 26, have all pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering related offences at Wood Green Crown Court for their involvement in a multi-million-pound scam on the benefit system.

A property tycoon has been given a sentence of 12 years' imprisonment after having been found guilty of a £3.5 million fraud over claims he sold houseboats on a stretch of the river Thames that could not be lived in.

Myck Djurberg (64) was convicted at Kingston Crown Court for fraudulently selling houseboats without appropriate planning permission on 19 March 2024 and was sentenced on 27 March 2024 to 12 years' imprisonment at the same court.

An ex-takeaway worker has been convicted (Wednesday 20 March 2024) of laundering the proceeds which saw her rise from living above a Chinese restaurant to residing in a multi-million pound house in an affluent part of North London.

Jian Wen, 42, was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of an offence relating to money laundering.

A ex-council worker and a roofing firm worker have been jailed for fraud and bribery after they conspired to defraud New Forest District Council.

Former council maintenance operative Richard Cullen, aged 55 from Luton, received bribes from 34-year-old Mark Diaper, who worked at a roofing company in Southampton which is now no longer trading. The bribes were paid to secure work for which inflated invoices were submitted.  The amount overcharged was more than £88,000 but the jobs referred to the company were worth much more.

Two men have been jailed for their role in operating an organised crime group which laundered more than £12 million of criminally obtained cash in the UK. 

Semen Kuksov, 23, and Andrii Dzektsa, 27, were sentenced to five years and seven months and five years imprisonment respectively at Southwark Crown Court on 1 February 2024 after they both pleaded guilty to two counts of entering into a money laundering arrangement. 

The CPS prosecuted Kuksov, and Dzetska, both of Kensington, London, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA). 

A barrister and part-time immigration tribunal judge has been found guilty of defrauding the Legal Aid Agency, along with other lawyers, by falsely claiming defence legal costs.

Rasib Ghaffar, 54, conspired to inflate legal fees and work claimed for in 2011 and 2012 together with Gazi Khan, 55, legal clerk; Azar Khan, 52, solicitor advocate; and Joseph Kyeremeh, 73, solicitor.  

 An illegal money service bureau owner who operated as a banker for criminals smuggling migrants into the UK has today been convicted. 

Asghar Gheshlaghian, 48, was found guilty of money laundering and immigration-related offences following a trial at Southwark Crown Court on 18 January 2023.

The CPS prosecuted Gheshlaghian, of Newham, London, following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).