London An illegal immigrant from India has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for stealing another man's identity and pretending to be him for 12 years.
UK Border Agency officers arrested Sukhjiwan Singh Burham, 37, during a raid on KMB Catering in Southall on April 2.
He claimed to be a British national named Avtar Singh. A further search of his property by immigration officers uncovered a marriage certificate and driving licence under that name. However, they also found letters and other documentations under his true name.
UK Border Agency checks revealed that the real Avtar Singh is a British citizen living in Canada, who was interviewed by officials at the British High Commission to establish his identity.
Burham later admitted that he had entered the country illegally in 1996, and had paid 3,000£ for an illegally obtained United Kingdom passport. He had then used that passport to enable his wife, whom he married in India in 2003, and three children to enter the country.
After pleading guilty to fraud, deception and a series of immigration offences at the Reading Crown Court, he was jailed for two-and-a-half years, with an automatic recommendation for his deportation.
Burham's wife and children are now awaiting removal from the United Kingdom.
"This conviction shows how seriously the UK Border Agency takes criminals who use false or fake identity documents," said area director for the UK Border Agency, Gareth Redmond.
"We now have teams of specialist police and immigration officers working side-by-side to investigate exactly this kind of crime. This is another example of their success".
Burham was one of the nine people arrested during a UK Border Agency enforcement operation at KMB Catering in Southall.
The company was warned that they would face a fine of up to 90,000£ for employing the employees without carrying out the correct right-to-work checks.
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