Tsvetka Todorova, a 54-year-old Bulgarian woman, was part of a group that defrauded UK taxpayers of £54 million through false benefit claims. She was sentenced to three years in prison in May 2024 and released in late 2025. A confiscation order hearing in January required her to repay £101,201.78, but she has only paid back £18,228.14, which is less than 20% of the owed amount. Todorova missed a repayment deadline in July, and interest is accruing on the outstanding sum. When questioned about her failure to repay, she cited health issues and declined to comment further.
After her release, Todorova continued to claim benefits, signing up for Universal Credit alongside her husband, who reportedly receives £1,300 monthly. Following media coverage, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) initiated a review and announced that she would need to repay the benefits received post-release.
Todorova previously expressed satisfaction with her living situation, stating, 'I love it here, it is good and has helped me.' She claimed to receive about £200 a month in benefits and mentioned that her husband receives over £1,000 in Universal Credit. She also indicated that most of her assets are held overseas, making them difficult for UK authorities to seize.
Todorova was part of a gang that used false identities to file fraudulent claims for Universal Credit between October 2016 and 2021. The group exploited 6,000 identities and established three 'benefit factories' in London, producing fake documents to deceive the DWP. The fraud was uncovered after a Bulgarian police officer alerted UK officials to suspicious financial activity in Sliven. As of January, authorities had recovered approximately £1 million from the gang and are pursuing an additional £1 million, still a small fraction of the total amount stolen.