A CRIMINAL gang who are suspected of operating a sophisticated benefit fraud scam worth £4.6m were targeted during simultaneous police raids in Govanhill.
Operation Arnos involved more than 100 Police Scotland officers and a range of government agencies including the Department of Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs and Home Office immigration control.
Early morning raids were carried out today in several businesses and homes in the Govanhill area and elsewhere in the South Side of Glasgow.
Police said the first phase targeted members of the crime gang while the second focused on the facilitators.
Assistant Chief Constable Gillian MacDonald said: "What we believe to have been happening in the area is that an organized crime group have essentially been preparing a fraudulent scheme which enables individuals to claim benefits to which they are not entitled.
"They have been, as we understand it, providing documentation which is false, providing information round about employment which is doesn’t exist in some cases.
"Essentially providing a package of information that enables an individual to go and make a benefits claim and be successful in getting money from the UK benefit system not that they are not entitled to."
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