Two people were arrested at addresses in London this morning on suspicion of fraud and immigration offences, with Home Office officers also seizing phones, jewellery and thousands of pounds in cash. A third person was arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally.
Chris Foster, a regional lead for criminal investigations at the Home Office, said the fake claims were connected to a Bangladeshi community LGBT organisation called Apanjon, which is based in Whitechapel, east London.
He said asylum caseworkers had initially spotted patterns in suspicious claims, which raised concerns about the group, and that immigration officers had been investigating for several months.
“We’ve got some intelligence that they can provide fake letters and documents, and they could charge anywhere between £1,000 and £4,500,” Foster said.
“It could be letters of support from Apanjon, it could be staged photographs, suggesting that these people are gay, it could be letters from people claiming to be in a friendship or a sexual relationship – [a] same-sex relationship – as the claimants.”
More than 100 asylum claims linked to the criminal network are being reviewed by the Home Office. Foster said some of the fake asylum applications would have “undoubtedly” been granted.
Immigration judges have previously criticised evidence from Apanjon as unreliable or not credible and found that an applicant who claimed to have attended the group’s events had submitted staged photographs.
The Home Office said the group would often vouch for men who claimed asylum on the basis they were gay only after having initially been refused on political grounds. In one case, a man didn’t raise his sexuality until nine years after his original claim.
The group is accused of using the same tactics as those pushed by advisers exposed in the BBC’s investigation earlier this year.
A Home Office spokesperson said it was continuing to review asylum claims linked to that reporting, which led to two arrests in May.
In the BBC report, published in April, an adviser called Tanisa Khan told an undercover reporter she could provide a “comprehensive package”, including photographs at gay clubs and other supporting evidence.
She was linked to a community group called Worcester LGBT, which she told the reporter they should attend in order to add to evidence for his fake claim.
Men attending one of the group’s events at a community centre in Beckton, east London, claimed they were not really gay. One said: “Nobody is a gay here. Not even 1% are gay. Not even 0.01% are gay.”
The investigation also revealed how bogus medical conditions and fake news websites were being used to bolster fraudulent asylum claims.
Worcester LGBT has since closed. Its founder previously said the group did not create or support fabricated evidence in asylum claims and it was not up to the organisation to determine whether any individual was actually gay.
Khan blamed communication difficulties for a “misunderstanding” and denied advising the reporter to make a false claim or offering to create fabricated evidence.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said “those faking persecution are beneath contempt and mock real victims who need protection”.
“To the gangs profiting from this disgraceful fraud: you will be prosecuted, stripped of your dirty money and shut down,” she said.
“And to those cheating the system, your claim will be thrown out, and you will be removed from this country.”
A conviction for asylum fraud carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.