Muammar Al Khadafi

Another day, more restaurants in Cornwall raided by UKBA. Why is it that the food industry is such a magnet for illegal workers?

Come to think of it, how often do you actually see a white Brit working in a takeout lately, at least compared to other ethnic groups?

UKBA carried out simultaneous raids on Spice Cottage, Camborne, and Cafe Spice, Redruth in search of illegal workers.

Two Bangladeshi men were arrested at Spice Cottage - One member of staff had entered the UK illegally, another had stayed on after his visa had expired.

The raid on Cafe Spice turned up another Bangladeshi man, working illegally in the kitchen. Another Bangladeshi who was in the UK illegally was found in accommodation above the restaurant.

All but one have been transferred to immigration detention to await deportation.

The Bangladeshi man found working illegally in the kitchen at Cafe Spice was bailed whilst an immigration application is dealt with.

Both businesses now face big fines, although it seems that these fines aren't much of a deterrent considering how we see almost every day illegal workers being detained at restaurants and takeouts.

Until we do impose sufficient deterrent, and quite possibly move from civil penalties to criminal penalties, illegal workers will continued to be employed not just within the food industry but within all industries.

It's obvious from the number of employers willing to chance it that the current system is not working, and that far too many jobs are going to illegal workers.

Indian national Ravi Gupta, an accredited immigration law adviser, has been jailed for four and a half years for his part in masterminding a complex immigration scam.



Gupta, 41, supplied numerous clients with with a huge array of faked documentation, including letters, education certificates, and pay slips, to assist them in immigration applications.



Typically he would charge £5,000 for his services in helping to deceive immigration authorities.



Details of his scam emerged after an undercover investigation into his company, Surge Global Solutions.



Appearing at Isleworth Crown Court, Gupta admitted to 14 charges of assisting illegal immigration, and a further charge of obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deception.



He was jailed for four and a half years, and it was recommended that he be deported at the end of his sentence.



Also jailed alongside Gupta were Tapinder Singh and Gurvinderpal Singh, both of whom admitted to money laundering and obtaining leave to remain by deception. Both were jailed for 6 months.



4 men and a woman had already been previously jailed for between 4 to 8 months after admitting to obtaining leave to remain by deception.



Legal proceedings are still ongoing against 6 people who are suspected to have used Guptas illegal 'services'.



"Gupta ran a sophisticated and lucrative scam, designed to help people who would otherwise have no right to be here stay in the UK" said Chris Foster of the UKBA immigration crime team.