By Roy Barford and Santosh Beharie
South African police and their London counterparts have jointly smashed an illegal immigration syndicate.
Their investigations revealed that the syndicate, based in London, smuggled at least 150 illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, South Africa and Jamaica into the UK.
The syndicate, whose kingpin was Harry Peter Wilson, a 46-year-old Zimbabwean national who owned a luxury apartment in Durban, as well as two in Bulawayo and two in London, issued fake qualifications, visas, identity documents, birth certificates and passports.
The SAPS Crime Intelligence division and the London British Metropolitan Police had worked on the case together for more than a year before nabbing Wilson and two of his accomplices in June last year.
SAPS national spokesperson Senior Superintendent Tummi Golding said Wilson had been sentenced to 38 months in prison for his crimes in a London court in October.
Wilson convinced innocent people that he could lawfully get them a visa and indefinite leave to remain in the UK for £1 200 (R13 700).
The Isleworth Crown Court sentenced him to three years and two months for supplying false information to the Home Office.
Two Sri Lankan principals of the London Schools of Accountancy in Tooting, south London, backed the applications. Arumagan Kanageswaran, 54, and Ponnduri Puvanandaran, 50, wrote letters saying that the applicants had been accepted at their school.
They were jailed for two years and 10 months each.
In forms filled on the immigrants' behalf, Wilson claimed he provided them with accommodation plus about R5 500 living expenses while they studied accountancy.
In 2003 the trio, who had become British citizens themselves, applied for at least 150 visas.
Not knowing how to make the applications themselves, the victims either contacted Wilson in Zimbabwe or just after their arrival in London.
Wilson, who lived in Penge, south east London, also touted for business at hotels in both countries.
"This network was motivated by greed and was achieved by manipulating young and vulnerable students," said the Met's Detective Chief Inspector Matt Parkes.
The men used the money from the scam for frequent trips to South Africa, expensive cars and several properties in London and Zimbabwe - including a hotel and casino in Zimbabwe.
They were finally caught after a joint investigation by the Met and South African Police.
Golding said that SAPS Crime Intelligence had been approached by the London police in June last year to assist in tracking down and arresting members of the syndicate.
In October this year, 22 suspects were arrested, and charged with conspiracy to facilitate illegal entry into in the United Kingdom by deception, money laundering and fraud.
They are currently being detained in London.
Another SAPS national spokesman, Captain Khumiso Sekethema, said that some of the suspects were in possession of fake South African IDs, but at this stage, their true nationalities were not known.
"They could be Nigerians and Zimbabweans, but it is very hard to say."
Sekethema said the co-operation between South Africa and Britain was aimed at eradicating illegal immigration activities. Sekethema confirmed that British Crime Intelligence groups had also been operating in South Africa, with the co-operation of local police.