Mr Ramin Mane was described by one of his clients as a “well-known figure” who was a freedom fighter in his home country and may have helped more than 300 people enter the UK.
His bank details and phone number were traced because they were linked to another Gambian who had been arrested by immigration authorities and had paid money to Mr Mane.
Sentencing Mr Manet at Bradford Crown Court, His Honor Judge Colin Byrne described Mr Manet as a “principal driver” and at the center of a systematic effort to subvert the immigration system by using fake documents to make payments. He said that he is a “reliable person'' in the company.
Prosecutor Jade Bucklow said Mr Money, 49, of Staveley Road, Heckmondwike, used the nickname Marcus 112 when dealing with people who sometimes paid thousands of pounds for fake passports, permits and entry visas. He said he used it.
A man arrived at Manchester Airport from Gambia on February 15 this year with his current Gambian passport, a “worn-out” indefinite stay visa and a photo that appeared to have been altered and “pasted”. I had both expired passports. ”.
The UK residence permit, UK entry permit and UK immigration stamp were all forged.
Bucklow described it as “a very elegant change.”
Deleted screenshots of the conversation about the payment with Money were recovered from the man's mobile phone, along with details of his flight into the UK.
On the day the man flew into Manchester, there were messages between Mr Money and the man's sister, who was acting as an intermediary, and she also made payments totaling £1,700 into Mr Money's bank account.
A week earlier, another Gambian had arrived at Manchester Airport with two passports in a similar format but with different names. Both passports were genuine, but the images had been altered.
The man, who was subsequently sentenced to 10 months in prison, named Mr Money as the person who had arranged his trip to the UK and also gave details of a bank account in Mr Money's name to which he had paid the money.
He was also found carrying a piece of paper with Mr Money's phone number on it.
The court heard he paid £2,300 to begin his trip to the UK and then spoke to Mane, known as Marcus, before meeting with agents in Gambia.
“He advised (the defendant) that he was preparing his own travel documents,” Ms Buckrow said.
He said the man “appears to have become concerned at some stage and tried to use his contacts within the police force to find out Marcus's identity.”
“He then learned that Marcus was the defendant's nickname and that he was a very well-known figure and was considered a Gambian freedom fighter,” Ms Buckrow added.
She said: “We understand that the defendant assisted a significant number of people, around 300 people, to enter the UK.”
The man then paid more money to cover travel costs and airport access to Gambia. The total amount was around £5,200, of which around £650 went to the manne.
Mane's passport was found during a search of his home, but when interviewed, Mane denied knowing anything about the man.
He later pleaded guilty to assisting a non-British person to breach British immigration law by providing false documents.
Ms Buckrow said Mr Money played a leading role in an operation involving agents and intermediaries and helping strangers illegally enter the UK for financial gain.
Sukhdev Garcha said comfortingly that Manne, a married man with four children, had accepted that he had “brought this on.”
But he said Mr. Money was working with others rather than having people work for him, and the financial benefit to him was not great.
He said the pasting of photos onto passports showed the operation was “far from sophisticated” and claims that Mr Money had helped hundreds of people enter the UK were “supported by evidence”. No,” he said.
Sentencing Mane, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, Mr Justice Byrne sentenced him to six years and four months in prison, saying: .
“You were my main motivation.
“There was a comprehensive attempt to reflect what constitutes a legitimate document, even if that attempt did not reach the height of sophistication.
“Courts have been clear that sentences should be harsher in cases of attempts to subvert the immigration system.”
