Ten people have been convicted for their part in an immigration scam which allowed Pakistani people to enter the UK through deception and “systematic manipulation of the rules”.
Men and women already residing in Britain were given false documents to allow their spouses to enter the country even though they were not eligible for entry.
Chef Mahmood Hussain, 56, a respected member of the community in Burnley, Lancashire, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for assisting illegal immigration.
Preston Crown Court heard how he falsified documents and provided false information on visa applications by claiming applicants had worked for him at a garage he ran in Burnley.
Crucially, he claimed they earned the minimum £18,600 required by immigration rules which allow a spouse to enter the country without being a burden on the state.
Mahmood Hussain, 56, was the “Robin Hood” leader of a gang that forged documents and provided false information on visa applications for people in Pakistan.
Mohammed Uldin, 34, and Asim Shah, 34, were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.
Sentencing, Judge Andrew Jefferies KC said that while there was no evidence that Hussain ran a commercial enterprise by providing false documents for money, “this case involves a systematic manipulation of the rules of entry into the United Kingdom.
He said: “You, Mr Hussain, have provided evidence to support these individuals.
“Your claim that you were some sort of Robin Hood character helping the poor in your community would have been more credible if you had pleaded guilty in the first place.
“You could have helped people in your community in a legal way, but you chose to fabricate documents and provide false pay slips.
“You were not related to any of these people, but they all came from your local community and, based on the evidence, I cannot conclude that this was a commercial enterprise.”
The court heard that all the defendants lived in the Burnley and Nelson area of Lancashire when the scam took place between 2018 and 2020.
Many of them worked full time but did not earn the minimum of £18,600. So they turned to Hussain to help them bring their partner to Britain.
At one point, one of the accused, Sidra Ali, 32, had to be rushed from her home to the garage when the Home Office – which brought the prosecution – made an unexpected call to check if she worked there.
Ali, Sidhra Riaz, 28, Sakab Asghar, 34, Asim Shah, 34, and Junaid Ali, 29, were all given 12-month suspended sentences and 100 hours of unpaid work for assisting to illegal immigration to the country. country.
Sidhra Riaz, 28 (left) and Sakab Asghar, 34 (right) were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work for assisting immigration clandestine in the country.
Quasim Khan, 31, and Junaid Ali, 29, were also members of the immigration scam gang.
Quasim Khan, 31, convicted of the same charge, was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for one year, and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
His wife Maria Khan and Taimoor Ali, Sidra Ali’s husband, were among those who arrived in Britain with false papers and each was found guilty of obtaining permission to remain in the country by deception.
Khan, 27, was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence and 70 hours of unpaid work, while Ali, 29, was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence and 65 hours of unpaid work .
Mohammed Uldin, 34, was also found guilty of complicity in illegal immigration into the country and sentenced to nine months suspended for a year and 70 hours of unpaid work.
All defendants must pay a victim surcharge which will be decided at a later date.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “This conviction 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 organized crime groups that facilitate immigration fraud. We will continue to seek out all those who defraud the system and make them pay for their crimes.
This case comes as the income threshold for issuing family visas will be increased to £29,000. A further increase will take it to £34,500 and finally to £38,7000 by early 2025.
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