Bangladesh-origin EU migrants accused of being involved in housing scam in Britain

A UK-based charity has been charged with a housing benefits fraud offence involving several Bangladeshi migrants with European Union passports.

They were found to be attending job centre interviews to obtain National Insurance numbers to claim housing and other benefits meant for EU citizens in Britain, according to a ‘Daily Mail’ report.
 
As per British government rules, EU nationals are only allowed to claim housing benefit in Britain if they can prove they work there.
 

Trustee of the charity, Families for Survival UK, Asma Khanam, 46, and 12 others have been arrested for interrogation in connection with the alleged fraud.

The arrests were made following an investigation by the Department for Work and Pensions and Redbridge Council into the scam, ‘Mail Online’, the British daily’s online edition, reported on Tuesday.

The scam, detected late last year, is believed to be one of the largest organised benefits frauds ever uncovered in Britain. It has cost taxpayers millions of pounds.

Bangladesh-born migrants, who had arrived in the UK over the past three years after getting EU citizenship in Italy, were allegedly involved in the racket, as per the report.

“The migrants are accused of making false housing benefit claims to local councils after obtaining national insurance numbers and moving into new homes,” the report said. 

“Bogus wage slips” were allegedly produced to help with their applications.

‘Families for Survival UK’ and at least five other organisations were reportedly facilitating the migrants with the fake employment details.

Two directors of other companies, including a recruitment firm, were also arrested in connection with the fraud.

Authorities first got the whiff of the scam last summer after a large number of applications seeking benefits were received from Italy-based Bangladesh migrants.

All of them claimed to be earning around £156 a week.

The Essex Police subsequently reported last year that a significant number of Bangladesh-born Italian citizens were arriving at London Stansted Airport from Italy.

They were carrying appointment letters to attend interviews at job centres in London. The migrants also had return flights tickets for the same day.

The Daily Mail said the DWP later identified up to 400 applications for National Insurance numbers had been received from the same address in Bow, east London.

The flat in Bow, east London, which had been used as a false address by the claimants and the Ilford headquarters of ‘Families for Survival UK’ in London were searched by investigators.

Documents and computers were seized from the office of the charity.

Khanam and 35-year-old KM Habibur Rahman, a former director of a company called Crystal Job Limited, were charged with conspiracy to defraud, according to the report.

Both were released on conditional bail last Wednesday, the report said.

Eight others were arrested for allegedly making fake housing benefit claims. They had been charged with offences under Section 2 of the Fraud Act, Daily Mail reported.