Sheffield crime: Seven arrests in crackdown on £50m benefit fraud

Police raided nine addresses in Sheffield and one in Rotherham and arrested six men and one woman on suspicion of offences including conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

The operation followed an investigation by the Department for Work and Pensions targeting “high level benefit fraud carried out by organised criminal gangs.”

It estimates they defrauded the taxpayer of about £50m.

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The DWP is responsible for investigating benefit fraud, and officers from South Yorkshire Police assisted the agency in making arrests.

Insp Alec Gibbons said: “We often work alongside partners in key operations, sharing skillsets so that we can best tackle organised crime.

“Benefit fraud costs the UK billions of pounds nationally each year. It is not a low-level crime, in some cases criminal gangs run massive operations to defraud the government of millions of pounds.

“I am glad that we have been able to support the DWP on their investigation, and I hope that this sends a message to those intending to commit fraud in our communities, that this will not be tolerated.”

Minister for Transformation, Andrew Western, said: “I am immensely proud of DWP investigators’ work, in collaboration with South Yorkshire Police Service, in fighting organised crime in the benefits system.

“These arrests are a culmination of months of hard work and demonstrate our commitment to protecting public funds and the integrity of our welfare system. We will continue to work closely with law enforcement agencies to hold accountable those who exploit the system, safeguarding support for those who genuinely need it.”