Great Britain: Home Office asylum racket (Corrupt official got 'hundreds' refugee status for £ )

The Sun (U.K.) ^ | July 26 2006 | ANTHONY FRANCE

[Stoat]

EXCLUSIVE

Home Office asylum racket

Let's do business ... bent official Dzumbira, left, shakes Sun man's hand outside Lunar House immigration HQ - as genuine asylum seeker looks on
Picture: PAUL EDWARDS
 

By ANTHONY FRANCE

 A CORRUPT immigration officer boasted to The Sun that he has helped 200 bogus asylum seekers enter Britain for cash.

Senior Home Office worker Joseph Dzumbira, 35, bragged to an undercover reporter that he could get anyone refugee status for up to £2,000.

He agreed to provide fake documents and IDs and coach bogus asylum seekers on how to cheat the system using loopholes learned in his job.

His biggest scam is pretending people of other nationalities are “Zim” cases — Zimbabweans threatened with arrest in their homeland. He knows the Home Office will not deport people to Zimbabwe because they face torture and death at the hands of President Mugabe’s thugs.

Dzumbira, who is Zimbabwean-born himself, has worked for seven years at the scandal-ridden Lunar House asylum HQ in Croydon, South London.

Earlier this year The Sun exposed a sex-for-visas racket at the same office.

Dzumbira — part of a gang which includes other bent immigration officers, solicitors and an ex-cop — boasted: “I believe in delivering results. There are people who can bend the rules.”

We were tipped off about Dzumbira by a disgusted asylum seeker who received huge demands for cash.


 

Corrupt ... Joseph Dzumbira
Picture: PAUL EDWARDS
 

 

After several calls and missed appointments, he finally met our reporter and a genuine refugee at a McDonald’s restaurant in Canning Town, East London.

The journalist, wearing a hidden camera, claimed to be a people smuggler.

Dzumbira, of Southend, Essex, showed his Home Office pass and payslip to prove where he worked.

Our man asked how much his services would cost.

He replied: “The minimum, to be honest, is eight.”

Sun: “Eight hundred?”

D: “Eight hundred pounds. I always try to charge a reasonable amount.”

Sun: “What could it go up to if it is a difficult case?”

D: “There are some people who come who know nothing. One-five.”

Sun: “One thousand five hundred?”

D: “Some people as much as two with documentation.”

Sun: “How would they pay you?”

D: “Some people pay as soon as their things are ready. Some tell you they will pay in instalments.”

Sun: “From the start will they have to put something down first?”

D: “Yeah obviously. Normally we ask for about 75 per cent of the total cost.”

Sun: “Okay. So in a case that will cost £800, they would pay what?”

D: “Normally we would ask them to deposit five.”

Sun: “How many people have you helped?”

D: “Quite a number.”

Sun: “Ten, thirty?”

D: “I can’t count. Do you want a figure for those I have given advice, assisted?”

Sun: “Assisted.”

D: “Couple of hundred.”


 

Trust me ... Dzumbira shows payslip to prove he is genuine
 

 

Dzumbira claimed Zimbabwean asylum seekers avoid proper security checks.

He said: “I know Nigerians are claiming to be Zimbabwean. No one checks.”

He offered to provide a fake Zimbabwean arrest warrant supporting a pack of lies he would tell the Home Office about the asylum seeker’s life being in danger.

The policy of not sending Zimbabweans home — known as country guidance — is binding on all courts.

Dzumbira told our asylum seeker, whose first claim was rejected in 2003: “There was a lady who was in your situation.

“There is new country guidance. It says those that claim asylum will be at risk if they go back to Zim.

“So if you are able to prove, like this lady, that she was wanted by police . .

“I’m going to give you a number for this lady. She was a police officer. She knows the right places. For £10 it will change your life.”


 

Home Office document ... paperwork crook deals with
 

 

Sun: “For £10 she can..?”

D: “Get a stamp from the police, a summons that says you are wanted. Those are the very people you want.

“What you ought to do is make what they call a fresh, a fresh claim. Say you are wanted by the police. I will give you the lady’s number. Ring her today.”

Sun: “She’s in London?”

D: “No, she’s based in Leeds this one.

Sun: “So what, she can get the documents here?”

D: “No, they give you an account. The money is transferred to that person’s account, then someone in Zim meets the police officers who give you the documents. Then they are sent to England.”


 

Shameless ... grinning Dzumbira even touts his official ID
 

 

Dzumbira offered to provide immigration documents which our asylum seeker should “study carefully” before going to court.

Dzumbira, who is in charge of vetting thousands of claims, also said he would make sure he was on duty if ever any of the reporter’s “asylum seekers” needed to visit Lunar House for an interview.

He said he worked closely with two firms of solicitors, a detail he kept secret from his bosses.

Driving licences, IDs and payslips to support claims were “not a problem”.

He also said Britain’s border controls were so lax that anyone could arrive, post their passport home and then a relative could use it to come here too.

[Stoat]

The Sun Online - Sun Says Shifty Chirac

 

Now act, Reid

THE Home Office must hold an urgent inquiry into our revelations today that a senior immigration officer says he has been running an asylum scam.

Joseph Dzumbira boasted to our investigator that he had smoothed the path for hundreds of asylum seekers, taking bungs to fix them up with the right paperwork.

Perhaps this is another example of what Home Secretary John Reid meant when he described his department as “not fit for purpose”.

Reid has made a solid start in his job. His challenge is to match actions to his stern words.

His first action today should be to suspend Dzumbira while he investigates what has been going on.

The Sun’s dossier is at his disposal.

The Sun Online - News Scandal a blow to Reid

 

Scandal a blow to Reid

John Reid ... asylum promise
 

By ANDREW PORTER
Deputy Political Editor

 OUR shock exposé sparked an urgent Home Office investigation last night.

 

One senior official said: “We take these allegations very seriously. We will not tolerate fraud or corruption from staff.”

The probe was launched after Sun reporter Lynsey Haywood took our dossier of evidence to the Home Office in Marsham Street, central London.

She handed over one of the first copies of today’s paper, a video of our undercover man meeting Dzumbira and a transcript of their conversation.

Soon afterwards Lin Homer, director general of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, said: “We will investigate immediately.

“The last reported incident of corruption at the IND led to a sacking and is now under criminal investigation.”


 

Problem ... immigration queue
 

 

This week the IND announced a huge shake-up of management structures and resources.

Our story will be a bombshell for Home Secretary John Reid, who has promised to clamp down on illegal immigrants by throwing them out of Britain.

Last week he pledged that he would boot out 283,000 failed asylum seekers within five years.

And this week Mr Reid outlined a new “action plan” to tackle the immigration fiasco.

[Stoat]

Considering the terrible state we are in here in the USA re immigration issues, it makes me wonder how much of this sort of thing is going on over here. A constant supply of Mexicans, many flush with drug money.....the temptation must be great for people who hate America and want nothing more than for President Bush to look bad.

[tonycavanagh]

re :the temptation must be great for people who hate America and want nothing more than for President Bush to look bad.

Thats a bit idealist, its more a case that that they are in it for the money.

[agere_contra]

It's a breath of fresh air to find a paper (the Sun, yet!) actually carrying out investigative journalism.

[tonycavanagh]

I wonder if the chap in question is Nigerian

[tonycavanagh]

My mistake he is from Zimbabwe

[Stoat]

Thats a bit idealist, its more a case that that they are in it for the money.

I mentioned money as a prime motivator in the section before the part that you chose to quote.  Scummy people have all sorts of reasons for doing what they do, and money as well as a hatred of our President and a desire to shame the Administration are not "idealist" notions but all contributing factors.  There are plenty of Clinton-era holdovers in the State Department who are actively working to undermine the Administration in order to trip them up and pave the way for a Democrat to regain the White House in 2008.

[Stonewall Jackson]

He looks like the guy from Hustle, that show about the British con artists.

[Stoat]

It's a breath of fresh air to find a paper (the Sun, yet!) actually carrying out investigative journalism.

The Sun has done a number of excellent investigative pieces, some of which I've posted here at FR.  Many people tend to 'pooh-pooh' anything from the Sun because they have so much truly idiotic content pertaining to TV and celebrities and boob jobs and such, but they have been a consistent supporter of the War On Terror and a strong supporter of the troops while consistently taking a stand against Islamofascists. 

One just has to be patient in order to sift through all of the Sun's celebrity garbage in order to get to the occasional worthwhile item   :-)

[Stoat]

He looks like the guy from Hustle, that show about the British con artists.
 

I don't recall seeing Hustle; is that a U.S. TV show?  I don't watch much TV, I mainly watch do the occasional movie and lots of internet   :-)

I have loved many of the British mobster films over the past few years such as Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

 

[Stonewall Jackson]

Yes, it is an American show. It airs on AMC (American Movie Channel?) every Wednesday night at 10PM.

The show features a gang of master con artists who are portrayed as being similar to Robin Hood. They rip off the extremely wealthy (who are either brainless idiots, unscrupulous scumbags, or evil monsters), usually without the mark realizing that he or she has been had. Then, about half of the time, they end up giving most of the money to charity or to a friend who is in need (ie their house burned down or they are in the hospital).

They have further info on the show at WWW.AMCTV.Com

[Stoat]

Thank you so much for all the great info! It sounds like a grand, fun show even with the standard Socialist template of "all rich people are evil". Even though I don't subscribe to cable I will look into it.

I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to answer. Here's a nice whisky for you :-)

[Stoat]

Update to All:

The Sun Online - News Asylum crook gets the axe

EXCLUSIVE

Asylum crook gets the axe

Cocky crook ... Dzumbira smiles outside Lunar House
 

By ANTHONY FRANCE
and ANDREW PORTER

 THE dodgy official at the centre of an illegal immigration scam was suspended from his job yesterday.

Home Office worker Joseph Dzumbira, 35, got the axe after The Sun exposed him for helping bogus asylum seekers enter Britain for cash.

He now faces a criminal investigation and every case he has been involved in will be urgently reviewed.

Yesterday we revealed how Zimbabwean Dzumbira boasted to our undercover reporter that he charged up to £2,000 to provide fake IDs and papers for illegals.

 

Dodgy deal ... Dzumbira shows papers to reporter
 

 

And last night it emerged that he HIMSELF is an asylum seeker who arrived here six years ago.

He applied to stay a year after coming from his homeland and was granted indefinite leave to remain.

He has worked for years at the Home Office’s scandal-ridden Lunar House centre in Croydon, South London, handling thousands of other asylum seekers’ applications.

His biggest scam was pretending that people of other nationalities were “Zims” — Zimbabweans seeking refuge from torture in their own country.

 

Official papers ... documents shown by corrupt officer
 

 

There was no sign of Dzumbira yesterday at his shabby flat in Southend, Essex. The curtains remained firmly drawn and no one answered the door.

The inquiry into his activities was launched after The Sun gave the Home Office a dossier of evidence.

A spokesman said: “He has been suspended from working for the Home Office while the investigation is on-going.There is a criminal investigation. All previous cases in which he has had involvement will be reviewed.”

 

Scandals ... Home Office centre
 

 

The inquiry will be conducted by the immigration service’s Security and Anti-Corruption Unit. Its staff include a detective constable seconded from the Met.

Last night Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green congratulated The Sun.

He said: “Your report was a good piece of investigative journalism. Now it is time for ministers to act.”

Earlier this year we exposed a sex-for-visas scandal at Lunar House.

We later uncovered how an official suspended in that investigation, James Dawute, 53, arrived from Ghana as a visitor then stayed on unlawfully when his visa expired.

Home Secretary John Reid, who has unveiled plans to revamp the entire Immigration and Nationality Directorate, said: “We take all such allegations very seriously and investigate them all.

“We have got around 250 under investigation at the moment. Thirty people have been disciplined and 20 referred to prosecution.”

 

		What's your view on dodgy immigration official?   Maybe it could be arranged so that he will be deported to Zimbabwe! Peter I’m so disappointed with Dzumbira for his activities and it’s bad for real asylum seekers from Zimbabwe. Mercy Mahachi What a shame to do this when genuine Zimbabweans are suffering. He is messing up things and should be punished. Jan The Home Office is laughable - first we hear their cleaners are illegal immigrants, now this. It makes you wonder what other skeletons are in the cupboard! Elizabeth and Stephen