A family of Romanian gypsies who defrauded taxpayers out of more than £800,000 through a series of benefit scams have been jailed.
The Romany gypsy gang – who are also believed to have been involved in a child trafficking ring - committed the "sophisticated and professional" scam in a ‘flagrant and persistent’ attack’ on the benefits system.Using forged home office documents and job references to illegally obtain national insurance numbers, the fraudsters managed to claim a plethora of handouts at the taxpayers’ expense.But they were traced to the town of Tandarei, in eastern Romania, a notorious base for crime gangs.Some members were based in Britain while others flew in from Romania to collect tax credits, income support, child benefits and housing benefit.Telus Dumitru, 36, of Nottingham, admitted conspiracy to defraud. His wife Ramona, 33, and the other seven members of the gang admitted various counts of obtaining a money order by deception, fraud and theft.The court heard how Dumitru, who masterminded the fraud, returned to the UK soon after being deported in 2001. He first arrived in August 1999.Until they were caught in 2009, Dumitru supplied his gang fake Home Office documents, passports, Romanian birth certificates and work references so they could claim benefits for six years.One reference came from British citizen Abdellatif Lemsatef, who admitted supplying phoney papers for use in the scam.Prosecutor Christopher Hehir told the court how gang member Claudia Radu would fly to Britain from Romania every few months specifically to claim benefits but was eventually stopped at Stansted airport with €13,000 and £1,800 hidden in her bag.Judge Gregory Stone said: "This was a major undermining of the UK benefits system."It was a professional fraud that occurred over a significant time frame and resulted in a very serious loss to the UK authorities."You have flown in and out of Romania to make your claims and commit your fraud. This shows a flagrant and persistent approach to offending which is an aggravating feature in your case.”The gang were jailed last week for a total of ten years at Southwark Crown Court.Manchester debt firm is liquidated owing creditors over £2.2m
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