27. Memorandum submitted by
South Yorkshire Police
BACKGROUND
The Home Affairs Select Committee has requested
information from police forces on immigration frauds in which
a third party receives payment for securing immigration and identity
documents.
South Yorkshire Police co-ordinates a sub-regional
multi-agency taskforce, tackling organised immigration crime as
part of the national "Operation Reflex" initiative.
Partners in the taskforce include other regional police forces,
the UK Passport Service and the Immigration Service.
SCALE OF
DOCUMENT FRAUDS
In our experience, the problem of document fraud
is growing. Our "Reflex" unit has dealt with four operations
involving Russian speakers using Lithuanian and Latvian passports
and we are currently investigating the use by Algerian suspects
of forged French passports. A further current operation centres
on forged UK passports.
Our principal focus in these investigations is the
offence of assisting unlawful immigration, contrary to section
25 of the Immigration Act 1971. This offence carries a maximum
sentence of 14 years.
The problem of third parties receiving payments for
securing documents to facilitate the entry of foreign nationals
into the UK appears to be increasing from our experience and has
escalated since the accession of nations to Europe in 2004. This
has resulted in the availability of many more passports, which
are often of poor quality and with minimal security features.
They are more easily altered or reproduced than those with developed
anti-forgery protection. Given the economic conditions in many
of the accession states it is common to find individuals selling
their passports to criminal groups.
In terms of third-party scams, an emerging issue
that reveals a loophole in legislation and regulation is the abuse
of educational permits and visas. Our investigations have revealed
that under the guise of providing educational courses some colleges
are charging foreign nationals several thousand pounds to facilitate
their entry to the UK. The individuals enter the UK as vocational
students but the actual educational component of their training
is nil. They are, in effect, put to work without work permits
on the pretence that this is "on the job" training.
The educational scam described above is appears to
be widespread and reflects the creativity and innovation of those
engaged in organised immigration crime.
NATURE OF
FRAUDS
Examples of frauds include photo substitution, altered
biographic data pages and counterfeit immigration stamps; all
common scams used by forgers.
A fast growing phenomenon is the use of forged passports
from countries like Lithuania and Latvia whose nationals speak
Russian. These passports are being used by Russian speaking non-European
nationals to enter the UK (including suspected Moldavian, Ukrainian,
Russian and Georgian nationals).
EXPLOITATION OF
VULNERABILITIES
In the case of air travel, the first examination
of a passport takes place when an individual checks-in at an airport.
If check-in staff fail to spot an obvious forgery they may be
liable for a £2,000 fine under the Carriers Liaison Act.
However, these staff are low paid and usually inexperienced in
forgery detection.
The next examination of passports is at immigration
control points where staff are required to satisfy themselves
that the holder is the rightful bearer of the document. This is
done by checking the photograph against the holder and by scanning
the document into the system available at control; this will identify
if the bio-data is counterfeit but will not necessarily identify
a substituted photograph. The high quality of some photo substitutions
precludes many forgeries being detected at busy immigration controls.
If a document is identified as a forgery at this
point the holder will be detained and dealt with as an illegal
entrant. However, unless the correct travel document can be located
on the individual, they may not be able to be removed immediately.
This is well known amongst immigration crime groups and the traveller
will have been advised by the forgers not to carry any documentation
relating to their true identity or nationality. When questioned
about the source of their false documentation, it is rare for
an individual to provide more than vague and general information.
Detention in these cases will not be considered due
to there being no immediate prospect of removal. This results
in temporary release of the person with conditions relating to
place of residence, prohibition of working and reporting to the
police and UKIS. All these controls carry a risk of non-compliance
by the individual concerned.
Where there may be a prospect of immediate removal
the individual will often claim asylum in order to delay the process,
in which case their nationality determines whether they are detained
to facilitate the asylum process. The majority of those claiming
asylum will be given temporary release as above.
False passports are also utilised by those who have
entered the UK lawfully but whose conditions preclude them from
working here. Forgers will insert forged Home Office and UKIS
stamps in legitimate passports in order to give the appearance
that permission has been granted for work in the UK. This enables
the holder to acquire a national insurance number which further
legitimises their activities within the UK, giving access to NHS
and educational systems, enabling them to open bank accounts,
and so forth.
The Schengen agreement of which many European countries
are signatories allows an individual to travel freely across Europe.
This means that fraud or corruption at one point in the Schengen
area can enable travel documents to be obtained giving access
across the signatory nations and therefore controls are only as
strong as the weakest link.
Matthew Jakes
Detective Superintendent
6 February 2006
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