A gang of five fraudsters who ran a fake Bangladeshi visa scam and falsely claimed £13 million in tax repayments have been sentenced to a total of 31 years in jail by a UK court.
London-based 42-year-old law student Abul Kalam Muhammad Rezaul Karim was the ringleader in the organised crime group, which set up 79 bogus companies and created fake documentation used by Bangladeshi nationals in fraudulent visa applications, Southwark Crown Court in London was told during a trial that ended last week.
They also used the companies to fraudulently reclaim tax repayments from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over a six-year period, with £172,000 being paid out and potentially could have amounted to as much as £13-million if the fraud had not been undetected. An investigation into their wrongdoing was the “longest ever undertaken” by the UK's Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) team.
Judge Martin Griffith said: “The purpose was to fool the Home Office into granting visas and it worked.
“Eighteen people were granted visas based on false figures. Of those, three were allowed to become naturalised British citizens, and two given indefinite leave to remain.”
All five fraudsters were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud by making false applications under the Tier 1 visa category between December 31, 2008 and February 27, 2013.
Karim was sentenced to 10 and a half years, his brother-in-law Enamul Karim, 34, was sentenced to nine years and four months and Kazi Borkot Ullah, 39, was sentenced to five years and 10 months behind bars. All three were absent in court after absconding in July and arrest warrants have been issued for their arrest.
Ullah’s lawyer told the court he had “no idea where he is, in this country, Bangladesh or anywhere else”.
Jalpa Trivedi, 41, and Mohammed Tamij Uddin, 47, were jailed for three years, and two years and six months respectively.
Prosecutor Julian Christopher told the court their offending was on an “industrial scale”.
As part of the immigration scam, the five defendants charged some clients on temporary visas wanting to remain in the UK a minimum of £700 in cash for their fraudulent immigration services.
The fraud was uncovered in 2011 when the UK Home Office identified a suspicious pattern in a series of points-based applications for Tier 1 general and entrepreneur visas. Both routes had a significant financial requirement, with applicants earning points based either on previous earnings or by demonstrating they had access to a minimum of £50,000 to invest in UK business.
The gang claimed their clients were employees as part of their tax and immigration fraud – creating fake payslips and providing false information on hundreds of applications to ensure eligibility for a Tier 1 visa.
They transferred money into clients’ bank accounts to make them appear well-paid employees. The money was paid back to the fraudsters the following month and, between 2008 and 2013, millions were laundered through the bank accounts as a result.