Visa scam trio 'must pay £2.3m'

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Three men jailed for their part in a student visa scam have been ordered to pay a £2.3m confiscation order or face more time in prison.

Arumagan Kanageswaran, 56, Ponnundurai Puvanandaran, 52 and Harry Wilson, 48, were jailed in 2005.

They pleaded guilty to offences relating to bogus applications to stay in the UK made for at least 150 people.

The confiscation order follows an inquiry by the Metropolitan Police's London Regional Asset Recovery Team.

It is one of the UK's largest confiscation orders of its kind.

College students

Wilson toured the hotels of London and Zimbabwe touting for business. He claimed that for £1,200 he could provide documents for people who wanted to stay in the UK.

Helped by Puvanandaran and Kanageswaran, Wilson would then supply false information to the Home Office to obtain visas, claiming the applicants were in London to study at the London School of Accountancy, in Tooting, south London.

Wilson was jailed for three years

Puvanandaran and Kanageswaran in turn supported claims the applicants were students at the college

They were caught after a joint investigation between Scotland Yard's Operation Maxim and the South African police.

Wilson, a Zimbabwean, from Penge, south London, was jailed for three years, while Sri Lankans Kanageswaran and Puvanandaran, 50, both from Tooting, were both jailed for two years and 10 months.

The men pleaded guilty to 20 charges of breaching immigration laws.

At Isleworth Crown court on Thursday, Wilson was ordered to pay £285,000 within one year or face four years imprisonment in default and Kanageswaran was ordered to pay £416,000 within one year or face five years imprisonment in default.

Puvanandaran was told he must pay £1.6m within 18 months or face eight years imprisonment.

Trevor Shepherd, the Met's economic and specialist crime command said: "Today's success is the result of a long and complex investigation by the London Regional Asset Recovery Team and is one of the largest confiscation orders associated with people trafficking.

"Under 'incentivisation' a significant proportion of the confiscated monies will be returned to police to fund future investigations and reduce harm to London's communities."