Directors 'received large cash payments'

THREE directors of a company at the centre of an alleged nationwide "cash for citizenship" scam handled unexplained cash transactions running into hundreds of thousands of pounds, a court was told.

The directors of Sheffield-based City Wide Learning – Liban Mohammed Yousif, Abdi Rashid Yusuf and Mustafa Yassin – received cash payments of up to 80,000 into their bank accounts, which were forensically examined by South Yorkshire Police following a raid on the company in February 2007.

Sheffield Crown Court has previously heard from a series of witnesses who said they paid hundreds of pounds each to obtain false pass certificates for the Life In The UK test, which is a prerequisite when applying for citizenship.

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The witnesses, many of whom came from London, said they had paid middle men who then acquired the certificates from City Wide Learning without going to Sheffield.

Yesterday, a jury was given a detailed breakdown of the bank accounts of the directors which revealed large cash sums being paid in between October 2005 and March 2007, a period which spanned the alleged fraud.

A total of six men are accused of conspiring to defraud the UK Border Agency, between October 2005 and February 2007, by dishonestly arranging – with Mohamad Jafari, Shpetim Yemeri and unknown others – for immigrants to receive Life In The UK pass certificates.

As well as the three directors, the accused are company employee Mubarak Yusuf and alleged middle men Mehmet Ince and Halil Dari. All six deny the charge. Jafari pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

Financial evidence also included large payments from City Wide Learning's accounts to the three directors. Yousif received cheques totalling 172,304.

The trial continues.

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