Indian-origin accountant among 5 fraudsters jailed for visa scam in UK

A gang of five fraudsters, including an Indian-origin accountant, who ran a fake Bangladeshi visa scam and falsely claimed nearly 13 million pounds in tax repayments have been sentenced to a total of 31 years in jail by a UK court.

Jalpa Trivedi, 41, was found guilty for facilitating the accounting side of the fraud and was jailed for three years.

London-based Bangladeshi origin law student Abul Kalam Muhammad Rezaul Karim was the ringleader in the organised crime group.

The 42-year-old man set up 79 bogus companies and created fake documentation used by Bangladeshi nationals in fraudulent visa applications, Southwark Crown Court in London was told during a trial that ended last week.

The fraudsters also used the companies to fraudulently reclaim tax repayments from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over a six-year period, with 172,000 pounds being paid out and potentially could have amounted to as much as 13-million pounds if the fraud had not been undetected.

An investigation into their wrongdoing was the "longest ever undertaken" by the UK's Immigration Enforcement's Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) team.

Judge Martin Griffith said: "The purpose was to fool the Home Office into granting visas and it worked. Eighteen people were granted visas based on false figures. Of those, three were allowed to become naturalised British citizens, and two given indefinite leave to remain."