Restaurant owner convicted of immigration scam

Gyash Uddin, 39, of Ivy Road, Luton sponsored visa applications for family members from Bangladesh to come to the UK where he then employed them at his restaurant Moja, in Mill Road, Leighton Buzzard.

Once in the country, EU nationals were paid to embark on fake marriages or civil partnerships with the Bangladeshis, who hoped the bogus relationships would help them gain long-term residency in the UK.

Most of the EU nationals were also employed by Uddin at the Moja restaurant.

Andy Radcliffe, from the UK Border Agency, said: “Uddin took advantage of his position as a restaurateur to sponsor people to enter the UK, knowing full well that they never planned to go home.

“At every turn, our investigators found his fingerprints all over the case, with the evidence pinpointing him as the main player.

“He acted as an interpreter at some of the weddings and money went to the EU nationals direct from his account.

“He also staged a reception for one of the weddings at Moja, the façade of a happy marriage undermined when both the bride and groom went back to work in the kitchens just half an hour into the celebration.”

Uddin was yesterday (Wednesday) convicted of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of the UK’s immigration laws and fraud offences after a three week trial at Luton Crown Court.

Bangladeshi nationals Mohammed Razul Miah, 35, of Mill Road, Leighton Buzzard, and Mohammed Dolon Miah, 35, of Spencer Road, Luton, were also convicted of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of the UK’s immigration laws.

All three had denied the charges.

Four Polish women, a Polish man and a British man, all from Luton, had pleaded guilty to the same charges of conspiracy to facilitate a breach of the UK’s immigration laws at earlier hearings.

A date for sentencing has not yet been fixed.