GANG FORGED PAPERS SO PEOPLE FROM PAKISTAN COULD ILLEGALLY ENTER UK

Ten people have been sentenced for their part in an immigration scam that allowed people from Pakistan to enter the UK by deception and ‘systematic manipulation of the rules’.

Men and women already resident in Britain were provided with forged documents to allow their spouses into the country even though they did not qualify for entry.

Ringleader Mahmood Hussain, 56, a respected member of the community in Burnley, Lancashire, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for assisting unlawful immigration.

Preston Crown Court heard how he had forged documents and provided false information on visa applications by claiming the applicants had worked for him at a garage he ran in Burnley.

Crucially, he claimed they were earning the minimum £18,600 required under immigration rules that allow a spouse to enter the country without being a burden on the state.

Sentencing, Judge Andrew Jefferies KC said that while was no evidence Hussain was running a commercial enterprise by providing false documents for money, ‘this case involves the systematic manipulation of the rules for entering the UK’.

He said: ‘You, Mr Hussain, were providing supporting evidence for these people.

‘Your claim that you were a sort of Robin Hood figure helping out poor people in your community would have had more credence if you had pleaded guilty in the first instance.

‘You could have assisted the people in your community in a lawful way but instead you chose to fabricate documents and provide false pay slips.

‘You were related to none of these people but they all came from your local community and I cannot on the evidence find this was a commercial enterprise.’

The court heard that all the defendants were living in the Burnley and Nelson area of Lancashire when the scam was taking place between 2018 and 2020.

Many of them were in full time employment but were not making the minimum of £18,600 so they turned to Hussain to help them bring their spouses to Britain.

At one point, one of the defendants, Sidra Ali, 32, had to be rushed to the garage from her home when the Home Office – which brought the prosecutions - made an unexpected call to check if she was working there.

Ali, Sidhra Riaz, 28, Sakab Asghar, 34, Asim Shah, 34, and Junaid Ali, 29, were all sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work for assisting unlawful immigration into the country.

Quasim Khan, 31, who was found guilty of the same charge, was given a 15-month sentence suspended for a year and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work.

His wife Maria Khan and Taimoor Ali, the husband of Sidra Ali, were two of the people who came to Britain on false documentation and each were each found guilty of obtaining leave to remain in the country by deception.

Khan, 27, was given a nine-month sentence suspended for a year and ordered to do 70 hours unpaid work while Ali, 29, to an eight-month suspended sentence and 65 hours' unpaid work.

Mohammed Uldin, 34, was also found guilty of assisting unlawful immigration into the country and was sentenced to nine months suspended for a year and ordered to do 70 hours of unpaid work.

All the defendants face a victim surcharge payment which will be decided at a later date.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘This sentencing sends a powerful message that those who attempt to abuse our immigration system will face the full consequences of the law.

‘There can be no hiding place for the organised crime groups who facilitate immigration fraud. We will continue to seek out all those that defraud the system and make them pay for their crimes.’

The case comes as the earnings threshold to allow family visas to be issued will be raised to £29,000. A further increase will see it raised to £34,500 and finally £38,7000 by early 2025.

2024-04-15T23:51:19Z dg43tfdfdgfd