Crime fixer caught by BBC offering to erase £60k fines on migrant workers

🕵️ BBC Probe Reveals Migrant Labour Fines 'Fixed' by Criminal Network

A man at the centre of a massive criminal network has been secretly filmed by BBC undercover reporters explaining how he can help remove fines of up to £60,000 for employing illegal workers.

The self-described 'accountant' is one of a group of Kurdish men who were first revealed in a BBC investigation on Tuesday for allowing migrants to work illegally in mini-marts by registering the firms in their own names.

According to the two journalists, the man, who goes by the name of Shaxawan, may be assisting migrants, including asylum seekers, in setting up businesses unlawfully and confounding Immigration Enforcement. He worked from a solicitor's office in Huddersfield and claimed he had "customers in every town."

Shaxawan is listed as Kardos Mateen, a British resident in his thirties, and has been the director of 18 companies across the north of England, according to Companies House.

When confronted later by us with the specifics of the allegations, he denied any wrongdoing.

Trading Standards announced that illicit cigarettes were being sold in many companies registered under the name Kardos Mateen, and that the BBC found counterfeit cigarettes being sold in four mini-marts where he was identified as the director.

The BBC News two-part investigation has shown the sheer scale and scope of criminal networks profiting from undocumented working on UK High Streets. The Government has confirmed that loose control of Britain's labour market is serving as a pull factor for those entering the country unlawfully.

Shaxawan made several claims to our reporters.

In addition, our reporters interviewed a paralegal, who was on hand with Shaxawan, and who promised to falsify documents and arrange business deals to prevent the fines.

'I'll make sure you have no issues'

The first meeting with Shaxawan took months to arrange. Believing he was meeting an asylum seeker who planned to run a mini-mart and sell illegal cigarettes, he pulled up at a packed Manchester retail park in a white 4x4 BMW. In fact, he was meeting Saman (not his real name), a Kurdish journalist working undercover for the BBC.

Shaxawan opened the meeting in a café with a smile:

We are a family. Each of us provides a service and collaborates together,

he said. He outlined how he worked with an

English woman who dealt with electricity, oil, and bailiffs. She makes it zero

when Immigration Enforcement issues a fine, he claimed.

I will set up your business, [card] machine, get you electricity, and talk to your landlord,

Shaxawan promised.

I'll make sure you have no issues.

He told Saman that he should register a mini-mart company in the name of someone else—what is often described as a ghost director. According to him, this would cost £400 per month, and obtaining a business bank card would require a one-time payment of £140.

According to him, if the store was raided by law enforcement and fines were imposed, the ghost director would be the one to "take the risk" and "take responsibility."

That's why you're paying,

he said.

Shaxawan called someone who might be able to act as a ghost director to demonstrate his sincerity and offer reassurance. On the phone, Saman explained that he did not have asylum status and did not even have asylum rights.

Don't worry,

came the reply.

As Mr Shaxawan says, bring the money at the end of the month.

The prospective ghost director, a 28-year-old from Iran named Bryar Mohammed Zada, was revealed by ID documents sent by phone shortly after his meeting with Shaxawan.

According to Companies House records, Mr Zada has accumulated company directorships for 20 car washes and mini-marts from Newcastle upon Tyne to Essex in the last 12 months. At four of Mr Zada's shops, undercover journalists discovered illicit cigarettes being sold. Mr Zada did not respond to the BBC's questions.

Shaxawan called Saman for a second meeting, and Shaxawan suggested they visit RKS Solicitors in Huddersfield later that week. The firm is affiliated with the Law Society and has branches in Dewsbury and Sheffield.

The meeting was held on the basis that Saman needed assistance with an unlawful working fine that had been given to a family friend.

On the company's website, there is no mention of the names Shaxawan or Mateen. But Saman called Shaxawan when he was outside the solicitors' office, and Shaxawan opened the front door and welcomed him in. He led our reporter upstairs to an office, where he explained how Saman's family member could avoid the fine by giving company information to someone else for a fee.

RKS Solicitors told the BBC that it had no connection to any suspected immigration or fine-related misconduct.

Fines Turned to 'Zero'

Ali, a Kurdish reporter, later became the subject of an investigation by calling the same RKS Solicitors branch, but without mentioning Shaxawan. He told the woman who answered the phone that Immigration Enforcement had fined him £60,000 for employing two people without the right to work.

He was given an appointment with Zohaib Hussain, listed on RKS's website as a lawyer who can provide legal assistance but is not a qualified solicitor and works under supervision. Ali arrived as Shaxawan was waiting for his appointment with Mr Hussain at the RKS offices.

Shaxawan repeated the assertion he had made to Saman, claiming that fines could go to "zero" without a response from authorities, which was repeated on the street. Shaxawan spoke to the 'English woman' he had mentioned in the previous meeting, saying she could guarantee that fines for unlawful employment were transferred to other individuals if they were the culpable business owner.

These will be Hungarians who live nearby,

Shaxawan said.

They will be paid between £2,000 and £3,000, and their names would be used to determine responsibility for the fines.

He did not give any further information, but an immigration lawyer we spoke to suggested that this could be much like a speeding fine, where someone else is named on the paperwork as the person driving and liable to pay the fine.

Ali's total bill would be about £4,600 per illicit employee, according to Shaxawan. He said he had carried out the procedure safely in Manchester, Birmingham, Blackpool, and Leeds, and it took about four weeks. Ali's firm would then have to be closed, reopened, and re-registered under a new name, according to him.

Ali was then allowed into the RKS branch, and Shaxawan followed him. Inside an office, Shaxawan demonstrated evidence on his computer identifying the individuals he claimed to have helped before. The scheme, according to Shaxawan, would deceive Immigration Enforcement officers who would not have time to investigate the details.

Ali was then introduced to the paralegal, Zohaib Hussain. Shaxawan remained in the room throughout the meeting. Mr Hussain answered questions about Ali's cover story—the mini-mart and the immigrant fine—quickly and in a hushed tone.

How many illegal workers? So how much is the fine? How many times did they catch you?

He then asked with a chuckle:

Do you sell vaping? Legal or illegal? Bit of both as well?

When Ali said his mini-mart was registered under someone else's name, Mr Hussain replied:

Very clever, but already very clever.

The first step, Mr Hussain said, would be to deal with the fine.

We'll look at certain other things we'll have to do as precautions

if Ali was not able to get off the fine.

Sometimes we may need to make papers,

Mr Hussain said, referring to "business deals." Ali asked if the fine would be transferred to someone else's name.

That will be the last resort,

Hussain said.

Mr Hussain cautioned that the immigration authorities would want to jump on the fine straight away, putting a cutting-motion across his throat. His charges would be £3,500, and he would "look after us." Ali was then urged to forward any future Immigration Enforcement letters to Shaxawan.

We showed our undercover filming and translations to senior immigration lawyer Bryony Rest, who told us Hussain was "clearly promising to falsify documents." She said there were "definitely theft and immigration offences" taking place, and she would expect law enforcement to investigate.

When we asked Mr Hussain for comment, he replied by email, denying "all allegations, insinuations, and assertions" we had sent to him.

Mr Shaxawan Jawad, the individual named in your letter, is not connected with me in any manner; professional, personal, or otherwise.

RKS Solicitors said the company was conducting an internal audit, and "the individual concerned" had been suspended pending further investigation, according to a BBC interview. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said:

We are already informed. Mr Hussain is employed as a paralegal under tight supervision. The individual is not licensed or instructed to provide immigration and tax assistance.

The company did not comment on Shaxawan Jawad. It said that it did not condone unlawful conduct and that it was committed to the "highest standards of professionalism, ethics, and public service."

Shaxawan, also known as Kardos Mateen, told us by email that he categorically denied "every allegation, insinuation, and assertion made" in our coverage, and that regarding RKS Solicitors, he was "not employed by, or associated" with them.

The Home Office will look at the BBC's findings, according to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.