Convicted facilitator's £386,037 proceeds confiscated PDF Print E-mail

An east London woman has been ordered to forfeit £386,037 profit she made from facilitation and money laundering.

Halyna Semenikhina, a 53-year-old Ukrainian of Well Street, Hackney, is already serving a 5 year jail sentence after being found guilty of facilitating around 5 illegal immigrants into the country last year. She provided them with employment and housing, and laundered their earnings through her personal bank accounts.

Southwark Crown Court on 12 January 2012 ruled that the government will retain the money, which includes interest accrued, under the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act.

The court heard that our criminal and financial investigation team had arrested Semenikhina for facilitation whilst she was working as an area manager for Maclean Services Ltd, a major cleaning company in London.

Despite being in the UK illegally herself and not permitted to work, as an area manager Semenikhina was able to recruit and supervise her own employees and abused this position to hire people she knew to be illegally in the UK.

Investigations into Semenikhina's financial affairs revealed that she had transferred the equivalent of £1,081,566 through her bank accounts and still held more than £382,000.

The UK Border Agency's financial investigation team, based in Croydon, took immediate steps to freeze the money held within her account using a restraint order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to stop Semenikhina moving the money abroad. This money was then established as profit from her crimes.

Michael Wiggin, of the UK Border Agency's criminal and financial investigation team, said:

'This investigation shows how seriously the UK Border Agency and the courts take these offences, and how much money can be involved in this type of criminality.

'The message couldn't be clearer - crime does not pay and the UK Border Agency not only has the capability to detect and bring those involved in immigration crime to justice but also to deprive them of the rewards of their criminality.'

Semenikhina was found guilty of 1 count of facilitation, 2 counts of money laundering and 1 count of possessing false documents at Southwark Crown court on 16 February 2011.

The money confiscated from Semenikhina will be split, with half going to the Treasury and the remainder divided between the UK Border Agency, Crown Prosecution Service and the courts. We will use our share to help off-set the costs to the taxpayer of funding financial investigators in their work detecting and tackling immigration crime.

 
Post-study Work PDF Print E-mail

IWP would like to remind all international students that the 2 year post-study work visa is due to close at the end of February 2012.

So if you have completed at least a Bachelors in the UK  before that date (and you have covered the maintenance requirement) then you might be eligible.

Call us to see if we can help.

 
Changes to appeals against immigration and asylum decisions from 19 December 2011 PDF Print E-mail
The Ministry of Justice will be introducing appeal fee charges for some asylum and immigration appeals from 19 December 2011.

People who want to appeal against a decision notice dated 19 December 2011 or later will need to pay a fee. The appeal fee will apply to most categories of visas and decisions. Any exemptions to the fees will be outlined by the Ministry of Justice. This will not affect any decision notices that are dated before 19 December.

Also, from 19 December people will need to lodge their appeals at the tribunal in the UK. We will no longer accept appeals at any of our overseas visa application centres.

Full guidance about the changes will be published on the Ministry of Justice website from 19 December 2011.

 
Merry Christmas & New Year! PDF Print E-mail
IWP will be closed from the afternoon of 23 December till 3 January 2012, however, post will be monitored for current clients - we wish you a very Happy Xmas and New Year!
 
Biometric Residence Permits (BRPs) regulations PDF Print E-mail

From Neil Hughes

(Acting) National Lead for Temporary Migration

"I am writing to inform you that today regulations are being laid in Parliament which, if approved, will see more foreign nationals being issued with biometric residence permits (BRPs) from 29 February 2012.

From this date, all applications for leave of more than six months made in the UK by foreign nationals from outside the non-European Economic Area (EEA) will require the applicant to enrol their biometrics (fingerprints and digital facial image). If successful in their application, the UK Border Agency will issue a BRP as evidence of immigration status and entitlements in the UK. This includes refugees and those granted settlement.

BRPs are an important step in fighting immigration abuse and illegal working and make it easier for employers to verify a foreign national's right to work in the UK. Employers can download guidance on checking biometric residence permits and their security features from the UK Border Agency's website and call a helpline to check validity.

The phased rollout of BRPs means increasing numbers of people from outside the EEA  will be required to enrol biometrics. The Agency has contracted with Post Office Ltd to provide customers with 100 locations around the UK at which they can do this. This builds on the success of the 17 pilot Post Office locations which have been operating for some time and means the enrolment of applicants' biometric details can take place quickly and conveniently. The expanded number of Post Offices will be in place in spring 2012.

From spring 2012 the Agency plans to launch a new online checking service to provide quick and easy real time checks on the permit and the holder's identity and right to work."

 
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