Footballer who entered UK using relative's ID jailed

A semi-professional footballer who used a relative's identity to get into the UK illegally and then build up his own property rental business was jailed for 11 months yesterday.

Romanian national Lorand Borbely, 29, used the passport of a Hungarian relative to get into the country in search of “opportunity and economic prosperity”, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

The court heard that Borbely, who admitted 13 charges including deception and perverting the course of justice, came into the UK in March 2004 using the name Laszlo Lovas.

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Prosecutor Simon Rowe said that, as a Romanian national, he would not have been entitled to come to the UK and work, as the country was not a full EU member at that stage.

But using a relative’s passport with his photograph inserted, he could come to the UK and get work, pretending to be a Hungarian national. Mr Rowe said: “At that point Hungary was not a full member but was going through the application process so the defendant would have known it was going to become a full member, which it did.”

After arriving in the UK Borbely, who played for Boston Town under his false name, worked briefly for a labouring company before getting mortgages and starting his own rental business. Mr Rowe said he also used the identity of Laszlo Lovas to get finance for cars in Boston, Lincs. The court heard that Borbely fraudulently obtained mortgages and car finance totalling 540,998.53, but Mr Rowe said bank records showed his payments were up-to-date, and none of the lenders had “lost out”.

Allison Summers, mitigating, said Borbely was well-regarded within the community and supported by people in the public gallery including doctors, accountants and solicitors.

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