Brian Sims
Editor
Brian Sims
Editor
A BOGUS immigration lawyer with no licence to practise has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years for exploiting at least 19 victims for huge financial gain. Flora Mendes, who had already been banned from practising law after a previous conviction, has had assets totalling more than £700,000 seized by the Home Office following her conviction at St Albans Crown Court.
The Indian national, aged 45, duped her victims into thinking they were using the services of a legitimate immigration lawyer and promised to help secure them leave to remain in the UK. Instead, the defendant submitted fraudulent applications that had no chance of succeeding in exchange for payment.
The fraudulent applications were identified by the Home Office and an investigation launched, which ultimately traced 19 bogus applications back to the defendant.
When handing down the heavy sentence, the Judge noted the defendant’s repeat offending. Mendes had previously been struck off as a solicitor in 2015 after she was convicted of providing immigration advice while suspended from practising law.
Despite having no licence to practise and a criminal record, the defendant still attempted to ‘game’ the immigration system by defrauding victims.
Working closely with regulators
Michael Tomlinson, the Minister for Illegal Migration, commented: “This sentencing shows the effective and relentless work being conducted to dismantle the networks of people helping illegal migrants to remain in the UK.
Those suspected of abusing our immigration system for profit will be swiftly brought to justice.”
The Home Office is clamping down on crooked immigration lawyers by working closely with regulators, industry bodies and law enforcement alike to bring prosecutions against them.
In order to support this action, a new Professional Enablers Task Force was established in August last year.
The action being taken forms part of a nationwide increase in Home Office activity to tackle illegal migration. Enforcement visits rose by 68% last year and arrests more than doubled, while the returns of people with no right to be in the UK increased to 26,000.
Rwanda Plan
Detentions have begun ahead of the first flights to Rwanda in nine-to-eleven weeks. The Government’s Rwanda Plan will deter vulnerable migrants from making perilous journeys across the Channel and ensure those who come to the UK illegally cannot remain here.
Andrew Radcliffe of the Home Office’s Criminal and Financial Investigations team said: “This strong sentence is testament to our efforts to clamp down on unregulated advisors through targeted operations. I encourage all members of the public to flag any potential intelligence to us so that we can follow it up accordingly.”
