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Couple plead guilty to defrauding desperate migrants by offering bogus immigration services (16 January 2015)

Date: 16/01/2015
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Couple plead guilty to defrauding desperate migrants by offering bogus immigration services

A UK Border Agency officer has admitted two counts of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office, after she read confidential immigration documents and passed the details onto her boyfriend – who was charging desperate migrants as much as £13,000 for legal advice.

The Daily Mail reports that 31-year-old Anjali Patel and her boyfriend 28-year-old Abdul Farooq had gambling debts worth thousands of pounds.

Farooq – a law student at Brunel University – posed as a qualified immigration lawyer to defraud migrants of huge fees for the bogus immigration services he offered.

Patel read confidential case histories at work to enable him to offer “tailored advice” to migrants desperate to stay in the UK.

Migrants caught out by the immigration advice service run by Farooq were from Bangladesh, Colombia and Pakistan. They were nearing the end of their visas and were potentially facing deportation from the UK.

Patel said in court that she had not received any money from the immigration scam – despite have gambling debts and owing money to payday loan companies.

Croydon Crown Court heard that Patel – who worked as an executive officer with the UK Border Agency’s case resolution directorate – was in a position to access confidential information, which would be of help to individual cases Farooq was offering advice on.

The pair were reported to the police, however, after one migrant did not obtain the results she had been promised by Farooq – despite handing over thousands of pounds in fees to him.

Failed asylum-seeker Maria Garcia-Zuniga from Colombia had been working illegally in the UK as a cleaner for more than ten years when she sought immigration advice from Farooq.

She had handed over £2,000 to him to have her immigration status in the UK regularised – and had been persuaded to accept his services after he had told her he was a qualified immigration solicitor and she “did not need anyone else to help” her in the case.

Farooq told migrants that he was employed by Voyage International Relocation Ltd – which offers work placements to law students at Brunel University.

Farooq met his own clients at a Croydon hotel and took cash payments only – one migrant handed him nearly £13,000 to secure a five-year work visa for himself, which would also allow his wife and child entry to the UK. However, the visa promised did not materialise.

It is estimated the pair defrauded desperate migrants in the UK of around £113,000.

The prosecution told Croydon Crown Court:

“Despite not having a law degree, Farooq held himself out to be a solicitor or someone qualified to give immigration advice.

“He persuaded vulnerable individuals to part with substantial amounts of money in the hope he could assist them stay in this country.

“Patel assisted him by the unlawful access of database and document files, personal data and other sensitive information.

“The information she provided enabled Farooq to tailor advice to applicants and she gave advice to Farooq on how to subvert the application process.”

Farooq also pleaded guilty to two counts conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and two counts of unlawfully providing immigration services.

The couple from Croydon in South London will be sentenced in February.

The court heard that Patel had left the UKBA and joined the Ministry of Justice's parole board.

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