UK: Migrant care workers charged thousands for Certificates of Sponsorship by fraudulent agents; incl. cos. comments
“UK Visa Scams Squeeze Millions From Would-Be Care Workers”
…His cases offer insight into the dark underbelly of the UK’s immigration system, which appears to be working to the satisfaction of neither the foreign- nor the native-born population. The UK is hugely dependent on overseas workers, not least in the social-care industry, which supports the UK’s elderly, vulnerable and disabled…
…He tells them about Certificates of Sponsorship, or COSs, issued by UK employers to migrant workers promising them a job so they can apply for a Health and Care Worker visa, and how the certificates are being sold by companies or their agents for tens of thousands of pounds…
…Beulah’s bank statements show that he sent at least £40,000 to Waikan Consulting, a business claiming to be an immigration advisory firm, believing it could provide COSs….
…An individual at the company had instructed Beulah to send payments for COSs to the bank accounts of AZNN and IWD UK, two UK-registered companies…Businessweek’s attempts to locate the registered owners of these companies have been unsuccessful…
…Madanhi was the compliance officer for a business called CMichaels Healthcare…
In response to questions from Businessweek, Madanhi said in an email: “As far as I know, no payment of £31,500 was paid to the company…