Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

UK Court Sends Five Fraudsters To Jail for £13 Million Tax And Immigration Scam

Five fraudsters in the UK who falsely claimed £13 million in tax repayments, and facilitated around 900 bogus visa applications, have been sentenced to a total of more than 31 years in jail on Friday (23).

London law student Abul Kalam Muhammad (known as AKM) Rezaul Karim (42), was the ringleader in the organised crime group. He and his four accomplices set up 79 bogus companies and created fake documentation which were used by Bangladeshi nationals in fraudulent visa applications.


They also used these companies to attempt to fraudulently reclaim £13 million in tax repayments from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over a six-year period. The immigration fraud was uncovered in 2011 when the Home Office identified a suspicious pattern in a series of points-based applications for tier one general and entrepreneur visas.

Both routes had a significant financial requirement, with applicants earning points based either on previous earnings or by demonstrating they had access to a minimum of £50,000 to invest in UK business. Caseworkers noticed that several applications were being submitted using slight variations on the same company names.

An investigation by Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) team was launched and HMRC called in to probe the validity of the companies and PAYE claims linked to them.

The gang claimed their clients were employees as part of their tax and immigration fraud. They created fake payslips and provided false information on around 900 visa applications to ensure eligibility for a tier one visa. At the time of the offences, tier one (general) and tier 2 (entrepreneur) visas were both potential paths to obtaining a settlement in the UK.

They transferred money into clients’ bank accounts to make them appear, well-paid employees, with one client, a worker at a fast food restaurant, able to claim annual earnings of almost £60,000. The money was paid back to the advisor the following month and, between 2008 and 2013, millions were laundered through the bank accounts.

Officers found that Karim, his brother-in-law Enamul Karim (34), Kazi Borkot Ullah (39), accountant Jalpa Trivedi (41), and Mohammed Tamij Uddin (47), charged some clients on temporary visas wanting to remain in the UK a minimum of £700 in cash for their fraudulent immigration services.

Trivedi, an ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) qualified accountant, enabled the fraud to happen by providing official letters certifying the amounts the visa applicants had supposedly invested in their businesses.

Karim and his accomplices were arrested on February 26, 2013. They were found guilty on November 16, 2018, after a trial that lasted 35 weeks at Southwark Crown Court. AKM Karim, Enamul Karim and Ullah, absconded in July 2018 during the trial.

Richard Las, Deputy Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said, “AKM Karim was the driving force in this fraud, having his organised crime group create false payslips to steal public money and deprive the UK of funding needed for its vital public services. The money evaded is the equivalent to the starting salary of 494 new nurses in London for a year.”

The defendants were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday (23). AKM Karim, Enamul Karim and Ullah, were sentenced in their absence and warrants have been issued for their arrests.

AKM Karim got 10 years and six months, Enamul Karim nine years and four months and Ullah five years and ten months. Trivedi was handed a three-year jail sentence, and Uddin two years and six months.

More For You

uk-snow-getty

People drive their cars past a landscape covered in snow and along the Snake pass road, in the Peak district, northern England. (Photo: Getty Images)

UK records coldest January night in 15 years at -17.3 degrees Celsius

THE UK recorded its coldest January night in 15 years as temperatures dropped to -17.3 degrees Celsius in Altnaharra, Sutherland, by 9 pm on Friday.

This is the lowest January temperature since 2010, when Altnaharra hit -22.3 degrees Celsius on 8 January, The Guardian reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
Chandra Arya

Arya, who represents Nepean in Ottawa and was born in India's Karnataka, made the announcement on X. (Photo: X/@AryaCanada)

Liberal MP Chandra Arya declares bid for prime minister of Canada

CANADA’s Asian MP Chandra Arya has announced his candidacy for the prime ministership, just hours before the Liberal Party confirmed that its next leader will be selected on 9 March.

Arya’s announcement comes days after prime minister Justin Trudeau declared his decision to step down while continuing in office until a new leader is chosen.

Keep ReadingShow less
Exclusive: 'Starmer must fill NHS staffing defecit'
Dr Chaand Nagpaul

Exclusive: 'Starmer must fill NHS staffing defecit'

LABOUR's latest announcement to cut NHS waiting lists, while welcome, does not go far enough, the former leader of the doctors’ union, Chaand Nagpaul has told Eastern Eye.

Prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, unveiled his plans on Monday (6). He pledged Labour would set up more NHS hubs in community locations in England, and the service would make greater use of the private sector to help meet the challenge.

Keep ReadingShow less
Exclusive: 'Stop spreading racial hatred'
Nazir Afzal

Exclusive: 'Stop spreading racial hatred'

POLITICIANS must dial down “dangerous and inflammatory” rhetoric and recognise the contributions of all communities in Britain, prominent south Asians have told Eastern Eye.

They are concerned that recent social media attacks on asylum seekers, immigrants, especially British Pakistanis, as well as ministers will lead to unnecessary deaths.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lisa-Nandy-Getty

The culture secretary retains powers to refer the case to the Competition and Markets Authority, which could trigger an investigation into press freedom concerns linked to Abu Dhabi’s involvement. (Photo: Getty Images)

Calls grow for Lisa Nandy to end Telegraph ownership stalemate

THE SALE of The Telegraph newspaper has drawn widespread political calls for culture secretary Lisa Nandy to intervene and end the prolonged uncertainty surrounding its ownership.

The newspaper has been in limbo for 20 months after an auction process initiated by RedBird IMI, an Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund, failed to secure a suitable buyer.

Keep ReadingShow less