Bulgarian woman who played a role in Britain's biggest ever welfare fraud ordered to pay back cash

Tsvetka Todorova was jailed for three years in May 2024 for her role in the conspiracy, which stole more than £54million from British taxpayers.

The fraudster, 54, was released from prison a year and a half ago and has been claiming benefits since.

She was found to have personally earned £263,514 from the benefits scam.

She said yesterday that she was living a ‘poor life’ and had been left with no choice but to claim benefits.

Her husband reportedly receives £1,3000 Universal Credit.

However, the Department for Work and Pensions has now ordered a review into the decision to award the couple benefits - and has confirmed she will need to pay back all the money she has received.

However she defiantly told the Daily Mail she won’t pay it back.

She said: “We have a two-bedroom house in Bulgaria that the prosecution has valued at £90,000 but they can't touch it. 

“We are married and the house is in both our names. My husband has no connection to the case.”

Asked what they use the house for, she said: “We go there for vacation.”

Todorova - who described her time in prison as 'like a vacation' and boasted of having her hair done and a manicure - claims to now be 'depressed' and ill.

She said: “My husband is depressed. I am depressed as well. I have had high blood pressure because of the case. My husband also has a lot of back pain.”

Todorova, Galina Nikolova, Gyunesh Ali, Patritsia Paneva, and Stoyan Stoyanov were jailed for a combined 25 years in 2024 at Wood Green Crown Court.

The gang made false benefits claims for Universal Credit with an array of forged documents that used the identities of real people living in Bulgaria, who were complicit in the scheme and received a share of the money.

All of the gang apart from Ali have been released from prison and are awaiting deportation.

They were not allowed to be deported until confiscation proceedings against them had concluded.

Todorova has rejected any opportunity to apologise for her crimes and instead insisted she was innocent, despite pleading guilty.

The vast fraud was only uncovered after a policeman in Sliven, Bulgaria, tipped off British authorities after noticing the city he lived in was suddenly awash with criminals living the high life.

So far, UK prosecutors have recovered just £1m and are trying to to find another £1m, a sum that officials believe they can “realistically trace.”

A Government spokesman said: “We cannot comment on individual claims. When someone is convicted of benefit fraud, a loss of benefit is applied to any future claims.”

A spokesman from the DWP said previously: “This was a disgraceful crime against the British public, and we are taking rigorous action to recover the stolen funds.

“We are clear – if those involved in this case do not pay back these funds within the required time they could be sent back to prison and then deported.

“In the case of Ms Todorova, we are currently reviewing the decision to award her Universal Credit.”