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Four jailed in immigration fraud case
07 February 2012
Three men from Watford and 1 from Harrow have been jailed for their part in a conspiracy to supply fraudulent ID documents.
Mohammed Hussain, 29, of Euston Avenue, Watford, was the last to be imprisoned when he was sentenced to 13 months on 3 February 2012 at a hearing at St Albans crown court. He had pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of the UK's immigration laws.
Hussain, along with fellow Sri Lankan nationals Aslam Riyas, 27, and Mohammed Fayas, 21 - also of Euston Avenue - and Mohamed Ibrahim, 26, of Grant Road, Harrow, had all sourced fake passports and residence permits with the intention of using them to illegally secure employment in the UK.
Riyas and Fayas were jailed for 12 months and Ibrahim for 6 months at earlier hearings. Riyas and Fayas had both pleaded guilty to charges of possessing fraudulent documents. Ibrahim had pleaded not guilty, but was convicted of a charge of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of the UK's immigration laws.
The UK Border Agency smashed the gang on 20 July after officers based at Heathrow airport intercepted a parcel containing fake passports and resident permits addressed to Hussain at his Watford home.
Officers from the agency's criminal and financial investigations team executed a warrant at the address shortly after 8:30am. Inside, they found fraudulent documents in the names of Riyas, Fayas and Ibrahim.
Riyas, Fayas and Hussain were all arrested on site. Ibrahim was arrested in a separate raid on his Harrow address on 31 August.
UK Border Agency inspector Andy Radcliffe said:
'Hussain was supplying fake documents to help others stay in the UK illegally and secure work to which they were not entitled. They were high quality fakes and prospective employers would have had no idea that what they were looking at was anything other than legitimate.
'These offenders had only one intention, to take employment opportunities away from genuine jobseekers - clearly a serious offence.'
Hussain, Riyas and Ibrahim had all overstayed visas. Fayas had a valid student visa at the time of his arrest, which has subsequently been revoked. Work to remove them from the UK at the end of their sentences will be carried out.
The operation involved seconded police officers working together with warranted UK Border Agency officers to investigate organised immigration crime. The suspects were all charged on the advice of the Crown Prosecution Service.