Overview
- The five defendants admitted fraud and money laundering in May 2024 and received prison terms totalling 25 years.
- At a confiscation hearing, prosecutors said efforts to trace additional funds are ongoing after the group shifted much of the money abroad.
- All of the offenders except Gyunesh Ali have been released and are awaiting deportation hearings.
- The operation filed roughly 6,000 bogus claims using real people and stolen identities from back rooms of corner shops in Wood Green, north London.
- Police raids in 2021 found hundreds of forged claim packs, £750,000 in cash and luxury goods, and revealed that Stoyan Stoyanov continued defrauding £17,000 during the investigation.