[kirklancaster]

Home Office official was the ringleader of £6million conspiracy which allowed 437 illegal immigrants into Britain.



Shamsu Iqbal, 61, was the lynchpin of a scam that falsified at least 437 records.

Iqbal and three other men netted £6million after he 'exploited' a trusted position.


The taxpayer could have lost £56million from illegal immigrants claiming benefits.

A Home Office worker at the centre of a £6m conspiracy allowing hundreds of illegal immigrants to stay in the country was yesterday jailed for 11 years.

Shamsu Iqbal, 61, was the 'lynchpin' of a gang which exploited his 'trusted' position to falsify records so at least 437 people could remain in the country.

The jail term is the longest ever handed down by English courts for conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, which carries a maximum 14-year sentence.

Home Office statisticians worked out the potential loss to the taxpayer would have been £58 million if all those involved had claimed benefits over the six years for which the scam ran.

Yesterday the four men involved in the conspiracy were sentenced to a combined total of 31 years by Judge Peter Gower QC at Croydon Crown Court.

Solicitor Sheikh Muhammad Usman, 45, was given seven years, legal caseworker Mohammad Khawar Aftab Hussain, 49, was jailed for six years, and fellow caseworker and solicitor's receptionist Mohammad Ibrahim Ali, 48, was jailed for seven years.

Sentencing the four men, Judge Gower said: 'These offences are particularly serious. They strike at the heart of our immigration system and undermine public confidence in that system.

'You, Iqbal, perpetrated time and again a gross breach of the trust that is accorded to anyone whose job permits access to Home Office records.'

The judge commended Home Office anti-corruption unit investigators Mark Purser and Zoe Smith for their 'hard work' in bringing the case to court following a three-year investigation.

Home Office sources said the exact number of immigrants given 'ghost' identities by the gang may never be known.

The conspiracy netted the gang themselves more than £6.18million, with much of the money spirited back to where the criminals have strong links.

When ringleader Iqbal was arrested investigators found bank accounts containing more than £1million in cash. His job at the Home Office would have earned him only £23,000 a year.

Iqbal's co-accused were Sheikh Muhammad Usman, 45 a legal caseworker, Mohammad Khawar Aftab Hussain 49, and worker Mohammad Ibrahim Ali, 48.

The court heard how Iqbal and his three co-conspirators would split the £14,000 fee they charged to each of the illegal immigrants they helped.

Prosecutor Alexandra Felix yesterday told the judge: 'The scale demonstrates a cynical scheme with clear commercial motivation and there has been financial gain. The cases before the jury were an extract of a much longer indictment.'

Iqbal, the gang's 'inside man', began working for the Home Office in 2003 having lived in the UK since 1985 after emigrating from Bangladesh.

The twice-married father-of-seven lost his eldest son from cancer last December, the court heard.

Lewis Power, QC, defending Iqbal, said: 'In 2014 it was clear that Mr Iqbal was under-performing, he was making errors, he was complaining of difficulty remembering instructions. He has now fallen from grace in quite a dramatic fashion and his world has been ripped apart.'

Mark Cotter QC, defending Pakistan-born Usman, added: 'We accept this was a serious case. The impact of what he has done is very severe indeed. There will now be the closure of his business - a business that drifted into criminality.'

Sandip Patel, QC, defending Hussain, told the court: 'He has lost his good character, reputation and his liberty.'

Rasib Ghaffar (correct), representing Ali, said: 'He accepts the seriousness of the case and the implication on the immigration system of the UK. He was the sole breadwinner and as far as the impact the innocent, in this case, is case are his family.'

During the 13-week trial the court heard how Iqbal would access Home Office records of migrants who had been granted the right to stay in the country.

The 'ghost' imposter would get a new identity of a real migrant who had been given either 'leave to remain' or 'no time limit' status to stay in Britain.

A senior Home Office source said: 'We may never really know the true number of people this gang helped stay in the country. There could be literally hundreds more on their books that we simply haven't found.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-11-years.html

My questions are:

1) How many years has this potentially lethal scam really been going on?
2) How many thousands of 'illegal immigrants' really gained entry to this country under this scam?
3) How many of these 'Illegal immigrants' are terrorists now safely installed within the UK in 'Sleeper Cells' throughout the country?
4) How many more 'Shamsu Iqbals' are there working in Government jobs throughout this country?

If YOU do not feel like asking the same questions, then ask yourself this:

How many poor immigrants do you feel there are who can afford to pay £14,000 to enter this Country illegally?

Where exactly did the £6 million + netted by these bastards go in 'Pakistan, Bangladesh and Dubai' and who did it go to?