Fraudsters entered UK using marriage deception

Before the two scams eventually came to light in an investigation by the UK Border Agency, thousands of pounds was paid out in benefits to some of those involved, Christopher Tehrani prosecuting told Leeds Crown Court yesterday.

The deception began when Bagh Ali fraudulently used the identities of a son and daughter from a previous marriage to bring two teenage children from Pakistan to join their mother, Rehana Awan to whom he was then married.

Iram Shazadi and Usman Khan went to school in their real names after their arrival and they and their mother were unaware they had been brought in under different names until they were older.

By then she had been claiming child tax credit and benefits for them and continued to do so receiving £17,500 to which she would not have been entitled if the truth had been known.

Shazadi subsequently applied for a mortgage in her false identity and had the interest paid on it while on benefits. She was also then involved in a sham marriage in Pakistan with her older brother Rizwan Khan and sponsored his entry to the UK as her husband.

Rizwan Khan, 25 of Christopher Road, Hyde Park, Leeds was jailed for 15 months after admitting one charge of conspiracy to facilitate illegal entry into the UK relating to his sham marriage. He also admitted possessing a false document and two charges of fraud involving Jobseekers Allowance.

Usman Khan, 23 of Wykebeck Avenue, Osmondthorpe, Leeds was jailed for 14 months after he admitted conspiracy involving his and his sister’s entry to the UK. He also admitted possessing false identity documents and fraud including one on bail.

Shazadi, 22, also of Wykebeck Avenue, was given 12 months in prison suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work after she admitted both conspiracy charges, five offences of fraud and one of possessing false identity.

Their mother Awan, 44 also of Wykebeck Avenue, admitted five charges of fraud or obtaining by deception relating to benefits and was sentenced to 10 months in prison suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work.

Ali, 82 of Harlech Terrace, Beeston, Leeds admitted one charge of conspiracy and was given a 12 month jail term suspended for two years. Judge Kerry Macgill said he considered Ali cunning and devious and would have jailed him and the two women immediately but for age in his case and domestic circumstances in theirs.

Abdul Iqbal for Shazadi said after their father was killed and their mother remarried she was desperate to get them to the UK away from harsh treatment by relatives in Pakistan.