Immigration Fraud
ABV Solicitors have a specialist and dedicated team of solicitors dealing with the full range of immigration fraud offences investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other law enforcement agencies.
As leaders in this field of law we are regularly instructed to defend suspects in some of the most serious prosecutions of this type in the U.K and regularly deal with cross jurisdictional investigations. See Notable Cases below.
Our expertise in this area extends to but is not limited to the following offences;
- Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (including Sexual Exploitation, Forced Labour, Domestic Servitude, Organ Harvesting and Child Exploitation)
- Visa Fraud including;
- Tier 4 - Student Visa Fraud,
- Tier 1 - Highly Skilled Migrant Fraud,
- Sponsorship Fraud
- Facilitation and the Assisting of Illegal Immigration (including Obtaining Leave by Deception, Failing to Observe Conditions of Leave, Overstaying, Facilitating Entry of Asylum Seekers and Employment of Illegal Immigrants)
- Bogus colleges and awards of fake degrees
- Forced/Sham marriages
- Identity Fraud (including Counterfeit and Forgery of Documents)
- Working Illegally in the U.K and Entering without leave
If you or someone you know has been arrested, charged or is sought after by a law enforcement agency for an Immigration Fraud Offence, contact us immediately.
Our fast and proactive approach in dealing with these cases can have a positive affect for those facing these serious allegations including foreign nationals. It is vital that early advice is sought to avoid any prejudice to the defence.
We can reach individuals accused of these allegations quickly whether in detention in a police station or in prison.
We also acknowledge that those involved may not have fluency in the English language. Our diverse and expert team are able to converse in many languages and can arrange if necessary, to interpret and translate for suspects in their native languages at short notice due to our strong links with professional and official interpreters.
We ensure that the advice provided is easy to understand, whether on the law and legal process or the particular circumstances of the offence.
R v M – Southwark Crown Court
This case involved surveillance on users of the internet who shared files, some of which contained illicit images. This was a joint operation with officers from the Human Trafficking team and the Child Protection Agency who were jointly involved in the prosecution of this case.
Operation Coptine – Leicester Crown Court
This matter involved a multi handed – Conspiracy to Facilitate Illegal Immigration involving People trafficking from South Africa. The case was described as one of the biggest of that time.
Operation Youthful – Oxford Crown Court
This case related to a serious and substantial immigration visa fraud consisting of 3 defendants. The lead defendant and his wife, set up a company that obtained a sponsorship license from the UKBA in order to recruit people from overseas to work at the company. This involved various applicants - who were either already in the UK or abroad applying for a visa to work in the UK under the scheme – allegedly paying money to the defendants for a visa. The prosecution disclosure in this matter was approximately 20,000 pages and the immigration fraud was estimated to have a value of over £1 million.
Operation Moonglow – Isleworth Crown Court
This case concerned a multi-handed immigration fraud orchestrated by an organised crime group who ran a sophisticated and commercial operation involving in excess of 520 false Visa Applications to The Home Office. The prosecution material served was vast and included false wage slips to the tune of £1.4 million. One of the defendants pretended to employ musicians at his business, which was made to look like a legitimate business
Operation Belman – Manchester Crown Court
This case is linked to Operation Façade. Charges were brought after a BBC Panorama programme in respect of systematic cheating on English Language Testing (TOEIC) at colleges where these tests were being sat by ‘pilots’ and the colleges were allegedly facilitating such cheating. As a result of these test results, applicants were able to fulfil certain criteria in their visa applications. The defendant received training by ETS as an administrator for TOEIC testing and was part of the senior management at the college. Case required a detailed understanding of the education system and role of testing centres with education institutions.
Operation Berg / Meeker- Southwark Crown Court
A £1.4 million Tier 1 and Revenue fraud. Registered immigration advisors and company directors allegedly manipulated earnings to support immigration applications and to obtain a rebate of taxes previously paid to the Revenue. The Serious Fraud Division Prosecution team described this case as sophisticated due to the number of companies which were created.
Operation Wick- Isleworth Crown Court
ABV represented a defendant who conspired with others to facilitate breaches of immigration law in a conspiracy involving “reverse” smuggling, i.e. taking migrants from the UK to France. An undercover journalist working for The Sun newspaper discussed and arranged with our client to secretly smuggle 2 males out of the UK. Arrests were made after a tip-off by The Sun newspaper to the police in Kent. The sentence was appealed and reduced by the Court of Appeal.
Operation Diviner- Inner London Crown Court
This was one of the largest ever prosecutions brought by the UKBA. The case involved a sophisticated multi handed conspiracy to facilitate the immigration of asylum seekers into the UK, following a nine -month covert operation at Heathrow Airport. The case related to Afghan illegal immigrants who were provided with counterfeit passports by the organised crime group.
R v S – Kingston Upon Hull Crown Court
This case involved a large -scale Facilitation of Illegal Immigrants working in the Labour industry in the UK under the CIS Scheme. The case required extensive international defence enquires principally in India. The defendant we represented was acquitted after a lengthy trial.
Operation Swale – Isleworth Crown Court
This prosecution was brought by the UKBA and officers from SCD9 following, the highly publicised prosecution of the ’ Sharma Uni-Visa’ Scam. This case involved a large scale multi handed Conspiracy to Defraud the Secretary of State together with numerous immigration offences namely Facilitation of non EU Nationals to Remain in the U.K or Gain Entry into the U.K by Deception and Money Laundering. The case surrounded false documentation and a fictitious Indian website and falsely created organisation called Telugu One which was used to facilitate the fraud.
Operation Tobin – Isleworth Crown Court
Multi-handed Conspiracy to Defraud the Secretary of State for the Home Office. The defendants were said to have caused and permitted false financial information in support of applications for Tier 1 Immigration Visas.
Operation Carpal – Stafford Crown Court
This large Conspiracy to Facilitate Illegal Immigration involved People Trafficking from India. The case received a great deal of publicity as the News of the World provided front page coverage and reported the case to the police. The case Involved extensive defence enquiries in India.
R v L – Reading Crown Court
This multi-handed case involves a prosecution against a number of Romanian males who are allegedly responsible for trafficking a number of women from Romanian into the U.K for sexual exploitation.
Operation Hudson – Isleworth Crown Court
This defendant, although, due to be tried alone, had been arrested as part of Operation Hudson which investigated the facilitation of young women from Nigeria for prostitution.
Operation Yacer – Reading Crown Court
Conspiracy to Facilitate Illegal Entry into the U.K prosecuted by the UKBA following a large investigation involving Sham Marriages against a number of defendants. The case has attracted much publicity and was included on the TV series ‘UK Border Force’.
