Support migrant centric journalism today and donate
A British court has heard allegations that a UK immigration officer demanded illegal payments from visa applicants and warned them that, if they refused to pay, their applications would be refused.
This week, a jury at Croydon Crown Court was told that Waseem Majid, 35, of Woolwich, south-east London and two others; Sanam Mia, 43, also of Woolwich, and Muhammed Qadiri, 53, of Ilford, east London, had conspired to breach UK immigration laws. The three deny all charges.
The prosecution alleges that Majid would take the details of applicants to his home and then contact them by phone. He would then threaten to refuse their applications unless he received payments of up to £1,000.
Applicant received anonymous demand for £1,000
The court heard evidence from one applicant, Nirmal Ramdeehul from Mauritius. Mr Ramdeehul told the court he had received a phone call from a withheld phone number and received a demand for £1,000. He was told that, if he did not pay, his application would be refused. Mr Ramdeehul refused to pay and, some time later, his application was refused.The prosecution says that when Mr Majid's house was raided in November 2011, officers found a 'mass' of documentation containing private information about UK immigration applicants. Officers also found lists of names of applicants with amounts of money between £500 and £1,000 written next to the names.
Sanwar Ali of workpermit.com said 'I do not wish to comment on this particular case, particularly before the jury has reached its decision, but I would advise anyone who has made an application for a UK visa who is then asked to make an irregular payment to contact the police.'
Workpermit.com is a specialist visa consultancy with nearly twenty-five years of experience dealing with visa applications. We are OISC registered. We can help with a wide range of visa applications to the UK or your country of choice. Please feel free to contact us for further details.
