Gang jailed by UK immigration for running bogus college
January 18 2010 by Liam Clifford
A group of people have been jailed for running a bogus college in order to make money from helping foreign students fraudulently obtain UK visas.
The scam is
thought to have netted the four offenders million of pounds and they have been
jailed for a total of 25 years as a result.
The offenders – two Chinese
nationals and two Bangladeshi nationals – were sentenced at Croydon Crown Court
and were given sentences of between seven and four years for conspiracy to
assist unlawful UK immigration.
The joint investigation by the UK Border
Agency and the Metropolitan Police found £2.65 million in cash underneath the
immigrants’ beds in the flat they shared in South London. UK immigration says
all four men will be deported once their sentences have been served in the
UK.
The four men set up a bogus college, which claimed to offer
educational courses, but actually offered no such facilities or services.
Instead they charged ‘clients’ thousands of pounds to be provided with false
documentation that suggested they had a place at the ‘college,’ allowing them to
gain the UK student visas necessary to study in the UK.
The group also
set up a fraudulent UK immigration advice service claiming to help foreigners
studying in the UK to extend their visas and fill in their UK visa application
forms.
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