British Airways supervisor 'on the run in India' after 'running £3m immigration scam' from Heathrow check-in desk
27 February 2024, 08:08
A British Airways supervisor has gone 'on the run' in India after being accused of organising a '£3million immigration scam' from his check-in desk at Heathrow airport.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The supervisor allegedly ran the 'scam' for around five years from Britain's busiest airport.
The 24-year-old suspect, who is understood to have been working at Terminal 5, allegedly charged customers £25,000 to allow them to fly without the necessary visa.
British police are in contact with the authorities in India in a bid to try and find the man, who vanished after his BA ground services partner was arrested.
The majority of his clients are understood to have been from India, who would fly to the UK on a temporary visa before he arranged for them to fly elsewhere.
Th majority of the alleged clients were also asylum claimants, who did not want to return to their home country.
The alarm was raised in Canada after a disproportionate number of passengers on BA flights to Toronto or Vancouver would immediately declare asylum upon arrival.
A source told The Sun: “He exploited a loophole knowing that immigration checks are no longer carried out by officials but are left to airline staff.
“By inputting wrong data, and claiming eTA documents had been secured, he got people to countries they had no permission to enter in the first place.
“On arrival, the bogus passengers would shred their documents and claim asylum.
“Many jetted to Britain to pay him to get them to Canada.”
They added that the full extent of the 'scam' is not yet known.
A spokesman for BA said: “We’re assisting the authorities with their investigation.”
The Home Office has said it would be ‘inappropriate’ to comment while an investigation is ongoing.
