Tandarei: The faraway town fat on UK benefit fraud

TWO months ago, a group of 10 bedraggled and bewildered-looking Romanians arrived at immigration control at Stansted airport in Essex on a flight from Bucharest.
They had no luggage, spoke no English and had no apparent means of support. One of the group was an alcoholic and another a drug addict.

An estimated £1 billion a year is defrauded from the benefits and tax credits system, with tens of millions of pounds lost to organised crime. While some fraud is inevitable, there is mounting concern about the high proportion of fraudulent claims orchestrated by traffickers which are being rubber-stamped after only the most basic checks.
Some of the suspects behind this fraud can be traced to Tandarei, a town of 15,000 people in eastern Romania which includes a 2,000-strong Roma gypsy population. Over the past five years, previously rundown neighbourhoods have inexplicably prospered.
The minor economic boom has seen 100 imposing new homes built, valued at about £20m. BMWs and Land Rovers with British numberplates cruise the dusty streets.
Vasile Sava, mayor of Tandarei, said last week: “How can I know where they get the money from? Nobody is telling us how they made the money abroad, legally or illegally.”
British police, who are said to have acquired several mug-shots of the affluent suspects in Tandarei, believe some of this new-found wealth is the proceeds of crime sent back from the UK, Spain and Italy using a variety of methods including Western Union and MoneyGram wire transfer services.

I can't wait for baby No 11, says 'rampant rabbi'

By Claire Ellicott, Daily MailLast updated at 8:02 AM on 20th January 2009



Go forth and multiply, it says in the Old Testament. And Philip Sharp is not a man to question the word of the Lord.The self-proclaimed rabbi recently celebrated the birth of two more babies by two of his 'wives' and is already looking forward to another new arrival - baby number 11 - in September.At the last count Mr Sharp, whose bizarre living arrangements came to public attention two years ago, has ten children, seven wives and a mother-in-law to provide for.The 48-year-old claims God told him he was an Old Testament king and he should increase the size of his family to strengthen his religious faith. So he decided to create a harem of devoted wives.
Mr Sharp, who claims GBP 800 a month in child benefits, said the family struggled to make ends meet because his GBP 60,000-a-year haulage business was suffering in the recession.