Update on Romanian organised benefit fraud

Police have smashed a multi-million-pound benefits scam by Romanian gangsters using hundreds of phoney claimants with fictitious children, reports The Mirror (htp Dave).

One gang alone raked in £10million. Another ran 350 fake families.

One gangster was found with fake identity papers for 200 children and one address in Enfield, North London, had 45 families registered there.

Superintendent Bernie Gravett, of Scotland Yard, said:

This is a big business, and it's impossible to say exactly how vast the fraud actually is.

But we have convicted over 40 people so far for benefit fraud and we are uncovering more and more cases.

Background on Romanians and benefit fraud here.