Solicitors’ watchdog will probe the asylum lawyers unmasked by the Mail’s investigation
- Legal staff charged up to £10,000 to invent stories of torture and death threats
Rogue lawyers exposed by the Mail for offering to make bogus asylum claims will face investigation by the solicitors’ watchdog.
The regulator pledged to take ‘urgent action’ after our undercover expose found staff at some law firms were charging up to £10,000 to invent stories of torture, death threats and modern slavery designed to help clients apply for refugee status.
Rishi Sunak and Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk said the allegations of ‘appalling’ conduct must be met with the ‘full force of sanctions’.
Politicians from across the political spectrum, including shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry and Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael have also called for the legal authorities to investigate.
Posing as an economic migrant who had arrived in the UK illegally, our reporter found legal staff readily offering to help him submit false asylum claims, in apparent contravention of the solicitors’ code of conduct. One legal adviser even offered to supply the reporter with antidepressants to show to the Home Office to support false claims that he was traumatised.
Pictured: Muhammad Azfar from Kingswright Solicitors who suggested a marriage ploy to client
Lawyer Vinnasythamby Lingajothy (pictured) offered to invent a horrific back story of torture, beatings, slave labour and death threats for an asylum application
In a statement, the Solicitors Regulation Authority said: ‘We can confirm we are investigating the firms/individuals. As a result of the information provided, we are looking to take urgent action to make sure the public are protected.
At last, BBC reports our story
The BBC finally reported the Mail’s investigation into rogue immigration solicitors two days after it was first published.
This newspaper’s revelations on Tuesday prompted a furious response from the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and leading Labour politicians.
But the BBC didn’t report the findings until the early hours of yesterday morning in an online article, and a few hours later on Radio 4’s Today Programme. In the article – which linked to our story in MailOnline – the broadcaster quoted the Justice Secretary Alex Chalk urging the Solicitors Regulation Authority to use the ‘full force of sanctions’ at its disposal.
‘Solicitors are critical to the operation of a fair immigration system. I know that the overwhelming majority take their professional duties and obligations extremely seriously,’ Mr Chalk KC wrote in a letter to the SRA.
The article also quoted Mr Sunak, who praised the Mail’s work in uncovering the ‘truly shocking’ behaviour. The PM said: ‘It is vital that those found to be abusing their position face the full consequences of their actions.’
‘If we find evidence that solicitors or firms we regulate have acted in ways that contravene our rules, and in particular their duty to act legally and uphold the law, we can and will take action.’
Mr Sunak said this week that the ‘exploitation and unscrupulous practice’ of rogue lawyers brought to light by the Mail were ‘truly shocking’.
In a letter to SRA chairman Anna Bradley, Mr Chalk said ‘robust’ action was needed to retain public confidence in the immigration system.
The SRA has the power to levy substantial fines and even shut down law firms with immediate effect. It can also refer rogue lawyers to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, which can levy unlimited fines and strike off solicitors, leaving them unable to practise.
The Mail covertly visited a string of law firms with a reporter posing as an Indian national who had arrived in the UK illegally on a small boat to look for work.
Muhammad Azfar Ahmad, a lawyer at Kingswright Solicitors in Birmingham, said getting married to a British citizen or someone with indefinite leave to remain would be a ‘better thing’ than pursuing a difficult-to-win asylum claim.
Separately, Rashid Ahmad Khan, a lawyer with Rashid and Rashid Solicitors in Merton, south-west London, told our undercover reporter to write down the reasons why he was no longer safe in India just minutes after being told there were none, adding: ‘You write one page I’ll turn it into four pages.’
Legal representative Vinnasythamby Lingajothy, representing Duncan Ellis Solicitors in south London, offered to invent a horrific back story of torture, beatings, slave labour and death threats for an asylum application – in return for a fee of £10,000. The law firm said it had sacked him.
Convictions for people smuggling have fallen 36 per cent since 2010, according to research published by Labour. It showed 253 individuals were convicted last year, compared to 398 back in 2010.
Rashid Ahmad Khan, from Rashid & Rashid Solicitors, offered to invent dangers of life in India
Muhammad Azfar Ahmad said getting married to a British citizen or someone with indefinite leave to remain would be a ‘better thing’ than pursuing a difficult-to-win asylum claim
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