Seven people have been arrested in a major joint operation between South Yorkshire Police and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), targeting an organised criminal network suspected of defrauding taxpayers of around £50 million.
Yesterday morning (Wednesday 2 July), officers carried out simultaneous raids on ten addresses — nine in northeast Sheffield and one in Rotherham — as part of Operation Duxford. The operation, which deploys specialist resources to proactively tackle neighbourhood crime, saw police teams support DWP investigators in the execution of warrants linked to alleged high-level benefit fraud.
Six men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud, dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit, money laundering, and making or supplying articles for use in fraud. The arrests followed months of intelligence gathering by DWP investigators, who believe the suspects are part of an organised effort to exploit the benefits system on a massive scale.
Inspector Alec Gibbons, of South Yorkshire Police, praised the coordinated effort: “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: this will not be tolerated.”
The DWP confirmed it will continue to lead the investigation following Wednesday’s arrests.
