Information on Leicestershire

Five Leicester men sentenced after illegal immigration scam

Posted on 25/11/10

arrest,villain,police,constabularyFive Leicester men sentenced after illegal immigration scamTop L to R - Sandip Rana, Satish Ravat, Vishal Shah bottom L to R Bhavesh Patel and Jaswinder Chahal

Top L to R - Sandip Rana, Satish Ravat, Vishal Shah bottom L to R Bhavesh Patel and Jaswinder Chahal

Five Leicester men have today (Thursday November 25) been sentenced for their part in an illegal immigration scam.

Bhavesh Patel (27) of Columbine Road, Hamilton, Satish Ravat (28) of Arbour Road, Leicester, Sandip Singh Rana (29) of Moores Road, Leicester, Jaswinder Chahal (42) of Swithland Avenue, Leicester and Vishal Jitendra Shah (25) of Braemar Close, Leicester pleaded guilty at Leicester Crown Court at an earlier hearing to assisting unlawful immigration to a member state contrary to section 25 of the Immigration Act 1971.

In January 2009, a joint investigation began with Leicestershire Constabularys Rebutia Team and the UK Border Agency (UKBA) when the authorities at Manchester Airport became suspicious of the number of passengers travelling from their airport and arriving in Canada without adequate travelling documents.

Investigations revealed a highly organised criminal operation involving legitimate UK passport holders who bought tickets to Canada, then travelled to Manchester Airport to board the flight. A switch was then made where a person, who was already in the UK illegally, would board the flight using false passports. This person would then later arrive in Canada claiming to have no adequate travel documents.

Enquiries quickly led Leicestershire Constabulary to the legitimate UK passport holders who used their details and credit cards to purchase the tickets and supposedly check in for the intended flight.

In March 2009, warrants were executed at several addresses in Leicestershire and a number of people were arrested, including the five men who have been sentenced today.

Sergeant Pete Copple, seconded from Leicestershire Constabulary to the UK Border Agencys foreign national crime team, led the investigation. He said: These people committed a serious offence and had no thought whatsoever to the UKs immigration laws by facilitating these individuals travelling abroad unlawfully.

We have worked closely with Manchester Airport, GMP and the authorities in Canada throughout this investigation and we would like to thank them for their assistance and co-operation.

I am pleased with the guilty pleas and this once again sends out a clear message to those who commit immigration related crime that they will be targeted by police and immigration officers working alongside each other in the Leicestershire foreign national crime team.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Brown, from the UK Border Agency, said: This case highlights how organised these people are and the lengths they will go to in order to breach immigration laws. I am pleased we have successfully dismantled this gang and this shows we are determined to stamp out this kind of crime. The joint police and immigration crime teams are actively targeting these gangs and anyone with any information can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Defendants were sentenced as follows:-

  • Bhavesh Patel received 20 months imprisonment
  • Satish Ravat received 20 months imprisonment
  • Sandip Singh Rana received 28 months imprisonment
  • Jaswinder Chahal received 15 months imprisonment
  • Vishal Jitendra Shah received 28 months imprisonment

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