Immigration Fraudster Gets Confiscation Order

A man of Willesden, North London and a second man of Stoneleigh, Enfield, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the Immigration Service.

The scam, which occurred between 2001 and 2004, was uncovered by a newspaper reporter who posed as a cousin of the 'groom' and attended one such wedding.

One of the men was secretly recorded stating that he provided a “one stop shop” for obtaining and submitting documentation to the Immigration Service on behalf of his clients in order to get them Further Leave to Remain (FLR) and that he charged £7,000 for this complete service.

In May 2006 the man pleaded guilty to arranging at least 50 marriages. These were conducted at registry offices around London and at a church in North London.

The man was given a five year prison sentence and it was recommended he be deported for the fourth time.

At a confiscation hearing in February 2007 he was given a confiscation order for £126,711.00.

Also in February 2007 after eighteen months of  medical delays, the court heard that the second man, who for 35 years ran a church, in Angel, North London, conducted at least 15 of these bogus weddings during the three-year con. He charged £1,000 for each wedding and often saw the same women repeatedly pose as brides for clients. These weddings enabled mostly Indian nationals to remain in the UK.

The man was given a two-year suspended jail sentence owing to his ill health, the judge said. The judge, at the Snaresbrook Crown Court also ordered him to pay for the cost of the trial from his profits from the con. The judge said that due to "exceptional circumstances" and despite a "staggering lack of remorse" the man was being given a suspended jail term.

Prosecution, said: "This man played a vital role in this long-running and criminal conspiracy which was designed to evade the UK's immigration controls". She added that a search of the church revealed 20 passports which the priest said were with him for "safekeeping".

The man was ordered to pay £20,000 towards the prosecution costs and there will be a confiscation hearing for him in June.