Tvetka Todorova, who helped run a benefits fraud that cost taxpayers £54 million, has repaid only £18,228 of the £101,202 she was ordered to pay back. She was jailed for three years in 2024 after making £263,514 from the scheme, and missed a July repayment deadline; interest is now accruing on the outstanding amount.

Todorova told the Daily Mail she was ill and did not want to discuss the case. She and four other Bulgarians used false identities to make thousands of claims between 2016 and 2021, including claims based on children’s identities, through three alleged “benefit factories” in London. Authorities have recovered about £1 million and are pursuing another £1 million, a small part of the total stolen; failure to comply with the confiscation order could expose Todorova to up to five years in prison.