The British media outlet Daily Mail has exposed a new scandal that consists of a lucrative scheme that Home Office official translators are using, benefiting from millions of pounds to get illegal immigrants, mainly Albanians, out of detention centers, known as ( camps ).
Albanian translator Eglantina Legisi has also fallen into the net of investigative journalists, who, although contracted as a translator by the Ministry of Interior, together with her colleagues, are providing illegal services for the conditional release of immigrants.
The Mail has discovered that translators are demanding £3,000 to act as false witnesses in court and secure the bail of Albanians caught entering the UK with false passports or in dinghies and trucks.
Following the English newspaper's investigation, the Home Office launched an urgent investigation and promised "swift and decisive action if necessary".
INVESTIGATION:
The fake guarantors testify in court as if they are relatives of the immigrants and promise to shelter them in their homes if they are released on bail, but in reality they have no connection to the detainees and have no problem with them living anywhere – including places outside the control of the authorities – if they are released without tracking devices.
The lawyer watchdog also launched an investigation after a lawyer told our (undercover) reporter that he could take the case even though he was aware that the guarantor was being paid and had no connection to the immigrant, explaining that it would prepare them for "what was expected to happen in court."
The woman who runs this scheme boasts that it is "100 percent" successful. She explained that, since she and the guarantor she would provide worked as freelance translators for the Home Office, they knew "everything" about the immigration system from the inside.
Guarantors and detained immigrants receive instructions on what to say and are shown photos of each other to fool judges into believing they are related, she said.
The guarantors pay a bond, usually £1,000, which is also paid to them in advance by the illegal immigrant or their relatives. When the undercover journalist expressed concerns that the judge might suspect fraud, she laughed and replied: “Do you think the government cares? Come on now, please.”
Her illegal operation was one of several fake bail schemes that the Mail discovered are being run by Albanians in the UK, in what has become a thriving market to meet the hundreds of bail applications that go to court every week.
Our investigation also revealed that the Home Office translator organising the scheme had appeared on television in Albania to criticise the treatment of Albanian migrants in Britain, while at the same time planning to defraud British authorities.
“Verifications for guarantors during parole hearings take only a few minutes and involve a few basic questions. Guarantors often appear in court via phone from their cars and are granted bail even when their answers are incomprehensible and explanations for large sums of money in their accounts are accepted without investigation. Other Albanians post videos on social media showing how to remove tracking devices that are placed as a condition of parole.”
Home Office legal guidance for immigration judges states that a "Parole Financial Supporter" must be an adult permanently resident in the UK, with a personal connection to the detained immigrant, or acting on behalf of a recognised organisation that looks after their welfare.
Judges must assess the “trustworthiness and reputation” of each guarantor and, if necessary, whether the migrant has a suitable address to live at before granting bail. But relatives of detained migrants routinely post requests for guarantors on Albanian Facebook groups in the UK, often with urgency because their relatives are facing deportation.
Eglantina Legisi, a freelance translator in the UK who works through agencies for the Home Office, the courts and the police, as well as for a lawyer who handles immigration cases, responded to three of these requests by asking those who needed guarantors to contact her.
The translator, who herself came to the UK hiding in a lorry after using a fake passport to flee Albania, later explained how the scheme worked to an undercover journalist during a meeting near her home in Welling, Kent.
She told the journalist, who was posing as a friend of an Albanian man detained after entering the UK illegally, that for £3,000, plus £1,000 for the guarantee, she could get another translator working for the Home Office to act as a guarantor.
Ms. Legisi assured the journalist not to be "frightened" about the fraud being exposed, saying that she and her lawyer would prepare him before the hearing and that they would only ask him a few simple questions in court. As long as he was released without a tracking device, he could live anywhere and work unofficially, she added.
She said the lawyer she was referring the case to knew that a fake guarantor would be used and "everything" they were doing. In a subsequent meeting with Hassan Malik of HM Legal Ltd at his offices in Rainham, Essex, he was willing to proceed even though the journalist raised concerns three times that the migrant and guarantor were not known, and he was aware that the guarantor was being paid £3,000.
He told her he would ask for £3,500 in fees and the journalist would have to speak directly to Ms Legisi about the guarantor and "whatever she is asking for him".
Up to 12,800 Albanians who entered the UK illegally breached their parole conditions between January 2022 and May 2023.
The Conservative shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, said: “ These reports are a disgrace. These interpreters are paid to maintain the integrity of the system, but in fact they are deceiving the system and the British public – often to help illegal immigrants stay in the country. ”
He demanded that the interpreters be fired “immediately” and investigated for fraud and contempt of court. “ The immigration system is being abused on an industrial scale and radical reform is needed ,” Philp added.
“ All lawyers must meet the high professional standards expected of them by the public. This report raises serious concerns. We are investigating and if we find evidence of wrongdoing, we will take action to protect the public ,” a spokesman for the Lawyers Regulatory Authority said.
Lawyer Malik denied any wrongdoing, saying he was unaware of any payment to the guarantor, and that he had been informed that he would know the detainee as they were both Albanians. He said Ms. Legisi does not work for his firm and her comments do not represent his or the firm’s position. Ms. Legisi did not respond to multiple requests for comment. (A2 Televizion)
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