It's things like this that give's the Roma a bad name, and they are not all bad

[size=55:2505ewx3]BBC News 8 November 2010

Gypsy rights campaigner jailed for £2.9m benefits scam

Lavinia Olmazu admitted a fraud charge in July A woman who helped more than 170 Romanians illegally claim £2.9m in benefits has been jailed for two years and three months.

Lavinia Olmazu, a leading campaigner for the rights of Romany Gypsies, helped mastermind the scam involving 172 members of the Romanian community.

Olmazu, of north-east London, gained access to them through her work with Haringey and Waltham Forest councils.

The 31-year-old admitted a fraud charge at Southwark Crown Court in July.

As well as working as an outreach worker with the councils, the university graduate was involved with the Big Issue.

She set up companies with her boyfriend to help facilitate the frauds they carried out as part of a gang.

Judge Deborah Taylor

Sentencing her, Judge Deborah Taylor told Olmazu, of Woodford Green, her role in the fraud was "
made easier"
by her involvement with the local authorities and charities which granted her access to people within the Roma community.

She added: "
You identified individuals who wished to be involved in this scheme and in doing so, abused your position with a number of charities.

"
You were a previously well-respected woman working in human rights. You have now lost your reputation by involving yourself in this fraud."


Immigrants from Romania are not entitled to a National Insurance number, and therefore a number of benefits, unless they can prove to the authorities they have been employed.

The court heard Olmazu and her partner, unemployed Alin Enachi, would offer false documents to the migrants purporting to be from their employers, and also provided them with fake references.


Olmazu's partner Alin Enachi was also jailed As well as providing fake documents, they filed false claims for child tax credits, working tax credits and child benefit.

Olmazu, who has an 11-year-old son, admitted one count of conspiracy to supply articles for use in fraud between November 2007 and August 2009.

Enachi, 30, also of Woodford Green, was jailed for two years and eight months after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to supply articles for use in fraud between November 2007 and August 2009.

Olmazu and Enachi were part of a gang of eight, all of whom have now been sentenced for their part in the fraud.

A confiscation hearing will be held at a later date, but the court heard £40,000 had passed through Enachi's account.

Det Con Melanie Groves, from the Metropolitan Police, said: "
This is a clear case of Roma families who wished to improve their lives but were prevented from doing so by being exploited by their own people."

I think this article speaks for it self nothing to add really except to say are you really surprised and is this a shock to any of us

No Blink it is not a shock to me either.

SCANDAL OF THE £3MILLION BENEFITS CON GYPSY WHO WON'T PAY BACK ANYTHING

A ROMANIAN campaigner for gypsies’ rights who conned the British taxpayer out of nearly £3million will not have to repay a penny – because she is broke.

Lavinia Olmazu, 31, who once addressed the UN on gypsy issues, helped compatriots make hundreds of illegal claims for state benefits.

Along with her husband Alin Enachi, 29, the mother-of-one provided fellow Romanians with fake documents to obtain National Insurance numbers, allowing them to apply for working tax credits.

She was jailed for two years and three months last month after she admitted conspiracy to supply articles for use in the fraud, which netted just under £3million.

WIN A LUXURY CRUISE TRIP FOR TWO WORTH £2,500!

At an earlier hearing, Enachi was jailed for two years and eight months, while a third man, Cristian Dumitru, 29, received two years and six months.

Yesterday all three were back at Southwark Crown Court for a confiscation hearing to decide how much of the money could be recovered.

The court heard Olmazu’s personal benefit from the scam was agreed at £70,594 and Enachi’s was £18,655. Dumitru made £103,261.

The bulk of the £2.9million was paid to individual claimants from the Roma community, who would give cash to Enachi for forged documents. However, the court heard Olmazu has no assets in the UK or Romania.

The police were only able to recover five laptops, which will be confiscated. Other than that, she will not have to pay back a penny.

And her husband will only have to pay £750.


Judge Deborah Taylor told him he will have to serve an extra 28 days’ jail if he does not hand it over.

Critics said the ruling showed Britain was still a soft touch when it came to criminal migrants milking the benefits system.

Matthew Sinclair, director of the Tax Payers’ Alliance, said: “It is absolutely disgusting that millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been lost and that such a pathetically small amount can be recovered.

“It raises serious questions over what has happened to the money and who has profited from this scam.

“We need a reformed benefit system less vulnerable to this kind of abuse and the authorities need to explain how it could happen and how they will stop it happening.

“Finally, there need to be stiff punishments when criminals rip off taxpayers. If that two-year sentence becomes a year or less in practice, many taxpayers will feel the criminal justice system isn’t doing enough.”

Gerard Batten, immigration spokesman for UKIP, said: “Our soft-touch welfare state is a magnet for migrants looking for an easy life at others’ expense.”

Dumitru, whose father is under investigation in Romania on suspicion of helping to traffic 181 children into the UK to work as beggars and pickpockets, claimed he could only pay back around £7,000. Speaking through a translator, he said last year he bought a house in the Romanian town of Strachina for the equivalent of between £13,000 and £14,000. But he claimed the house was now worth around £5,000 to £6,000.

Asked why the value had gone down so sharply, he said: “No-one but another gypsy would buy it. It’s just two rooms and one hallway. It has electricity but water comes from a well outside.”

Dumitru said he paid over the odds for the property because he was homeless and desperate to house his wife and six children.

Judge Taylor rejected this account and ordered Dumitru to pay back £16,236, including £1,235 cash found in his home.

He will have three months to pay or he will have to serve an extra nine months in custody.

Enachi and Olmazu, both of Woodford Green, Essex, each pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to supply articles for use in fraud between November 1, 2007 and August 6 last year, as did Dumitru, of Tottenham, north London, who also pleaded guilty to a further two counts of fraud.

Five other Romanians were also given prison terms for their roles in the plot.

Admin wrote:

A ROMANIAN campaigner for gypsies’ rights who conned the British taxpayer out of nearly £3million will not have to repay a penny – because she is broke.

I'm broke as well. Doesn't mean I don't pay my bills. Would have trouble finding 3 million, though, I must admit.

Does anyone ever check the criminal records and background of these people? The rule of thumb should be if they have a criminal record or commit "
ANY"
crimes in the uk, they should have ALL ASSETS seized and deported. The facts speak for themselves, how many Romamian Gypsies have gone to the uk to commit crime and defraud the benefits system? They are classed as outcast by the people in their own country and Romania is glad to see them leave.
ALL CRIMINALS SHOULD PAY BACK ALL MONEY WHICH HAS BEEN THE PROCEEDS OF FRAUD AND CRIME!!!

I cannot believe our courts, the police or the benefits officers can be so simple minded.This woman is broke? Pull the other one. Its stashed back in Romania of course waiting for her to be released in 6 months time, why aren't the jail terms escalated in proportion with the money stolen and the money retrieved less the cost of retrieving it? For example, the pre-set term is 3 years. Here she stole £3 million therefore she owes £3 million. Lets say the annual remission penalty is 5% of the total. So when she hands over 50% (£1.5M) her penalty is reduced by 10 years, down to 13 years.

Gimp wrote:

Does anyone ever check the criminal records and background of these people? The rule of thumb should be if they have a criminal record or commit "
ANY"
crimes in the uk, they should have ALL ASSETS seized and deported. The facts speak for themselves, how many Romamian Gypsies have gone to the uk to commit crime and defraud the benefits system? They are classed as outcast by the people in their own country and Romania is glad to see them leave.
ALL CRIMINALS SHOULD PAY BACK ALL MONEY WHICH HAS BEEN THE PROCEEDS OF FRAUD AND CRIME!!!

Gimp, I totally agree with you. I wish they would do the same in Bulgaria, I and my family would be about £40,000 better off now and that is only for the villa contents ie, fittings, fixtures, furniture and personal belongings. It doesn't include all the court and legal fees etc

Overseas benefit cheats face new crackdown

Benefit cheats who move overseas to enjoy a sunshine lifestyle at taxpayers’ expense are to be targeted in a New Year crackdown on ‘abroad fraud’.

Officials at the Department for Work and Pensions will work with their counterparts in countries where the most fraud is carried out by British benefit claimants.

Top scams are said by the department to include claimants not informing the authorities that they have moved abroad, and those on benefits working overseas while being funded by the taxpayer.

In some cases, relatives failed to inform the state when a claimant died overseas in order to continue collecting their money.

Cheats claimed benefits without declaring that they owned substantial assets, including property and even yachts.

Others exaggerated illness or disability and claimed sick pay while enjoying an energetic lifestyle in the sun.

Among the countries which will be targeted as part of the scheme to crack down on the £66 million of fraud a year committed by Britons based overseas include Spain and Portugal, where special hot lines have been set up for ex-expatriates to report abuses.

Officials estimate that the most United Kingdom-born cheats are based in Spain, the United States, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Officials will also make contact with the authorities in countries as far a field as Thailand and Sweden.

Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform, said: "
Abroad fraud cost the taxpayer around £66 million last year.

“This money should be going to the people who need it most and not lining the pockets of criminals sunning themselves overseas.

"
We are determined to stop benefit thieves stealing from the British taxpayer and recently launched our hotline in Portugal to make it even easier to report benefit crime."


As part of the crackdown, fraud investigators will work with overseas organisations such as land registries, as well as the Foreign Office and UK banks to identify scams.

A recent caller to the Spanish fraud hotline was responsible for catching Angela Walker, a benefit cheat originally from Birmingham but now living in the southern town of Granada. She had claimed more than

£10,000 of Income Support and Child Tax Credits since 2006, despite living abroad and with a partner. After pleading guilty in November, she must now repay the cash.

I'm sure there will be a few red faces round Bulgaria or people suddenly disappearing to the uk for a short stay

I'm all for stopping benefit fraud - but can we have a LEVEL playing field ? Can we stop our "
EU ::"
from claiming from us, can we stop these hand-outs to people that come here to get free healthcare, schooling, housing and 'family support', can we stop paying anything at all to people here illegally - like those we apparently cannot deport? - If we can't deport them there is no reason why we still have to feed, clothe and house them, and doesn't 'imprisonable crime' disqualify foreigners from receiving any state aid? a few nights in the open in this weather would discourage a lot of the migrants from hot countries who seem to think you can live on the streets above the 50th Parallel, no doubt As Ever "
the tuthorities"
will go for the easy targets - the people that they know they can prosecute without the "
Human Rights"
briggade getting involved, I'll start taking "
the authorities"
seriously when they tackle a few of the difficult cases and we see a few hundred thousand illegals shipped out kicking and screaming. As a Nation we are pretty tollerant and charitable - but we have had enough - more than enough.

Good post Scott but how many Prime Ministers increase their Capital wealth and Assets upon their occupancy at no 10 or shortly after leaving and how many ministers of state get very well remunerated jobs in the private sector after stepping down ??? They earned it didn't they! ! ! ---oh-oh oh----MPs perks and expenses their overseas junkets to see how really important things are done -for our benefit !! !! and hundreds of Quango's and committee's having slap up lunches and travel costs paid by the unsuspecting Tax payers, most information and Technical advise comes from the Internet now --and just HOW many people need to be involved in these shamefull goings on :Headbang:life can be likened to a washing Machine -THE S**T FLOATS ON THE TOP