LONDON, Jan 16: A 31-year-old Indian-origin UK Border Agency officer has admitted using inside information and her lover to con vulnerable migrants out of GBP 113,000 to pay her massive gambling debts, according to a media report.
31-year-old Anjali Patel of Croydon in South London, conned immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Colombia nearing the end of their visas or facing deportation into handing over cash to her law student boy friend Abdul Farooq (28), a report in the Evening Standard said.
Patel, who took voluntary redundancy in August 2011, is alleged to have deliberately abused her position of trust by passing data to Farooq between 2010 and 2012.
The Indian-origin civil servant has admitted using her inside information to swindle vulnerable migrants out of GBP 113,000 to pay off her “massive gambling debts”.
Patel, an executive officer with the Case Resolution Directorate, used confidential information to help Farooq convince the migrants that he was a qualified lawyer.
Croydon crown court heard that investigators discovered an image on Patel’s phone of Farooq illegally giving immigration advice at a hotel.
Prosecutor Karen Robinson said the couple worked the scam in 2010 and 2011 when Patel moved to the Parole Board, where she was later arrested.
Officers found evidence that Patel had large gambling losses and owed money to payday loan companies.
Farooq was studying law at Brunel University here and had no obvious income, despite thousands of pounds pouring into his five bank accounts and gambling losses of GBP 12,000.
“Despite not having a law degree Farooq held himself out to be a solicitor or someone qualified to give immigration advice,” Robinson said.
“He persuaded vulnerable individuals to part with substantial amounts of money in the hope he could assist them stay in this country. Patel assisted him by the unlawful access of database and document files, personal data and other sensitive information.
“The information she provided enabled Farooq to tailor advice to applicants and she gave advice to Farooq on how to subvert the application process.”
Bangladesh-born Mamunmar Rahman gave Farooq GBP 12,950 cash to help him secure a five-year work visa, which would eventually give him and his wife and child the right to apply for permanent residency.
Their meetings took place in a Croydon hotel and Farooq always insisted on cash payments, but the visa Rahman wanted never materialised. (PTI)
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