She demanded that a potential returnee pay her £2,500
Immigration officer Jaspreet Kaur, aged 41, of Romford, was jailed for three years and nine months on Thursday, April 11, 2019, for attempting to extort money from an Indian national.
The corrupt civil servant was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.
Kaur tried to extort money from an Indian man who was due to be removed from the UK.
She demanded that a potential returnee pay her £2,500 after falsely telling him she had “pulled strings” to have him released from Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre in March 2017.
Kaur also falsely claimed that if the man paid her the money, any outstanding deportation orders against him would not be enforced.
She gave him a one-week deadline in order to gather the money. The man became suspicious of Kaur’s claims and a telephone conversation between the two was recorded.
Kaur was arrested in July 2017 and during questioning, she was confronted with the recorded evidence.
Kaur initially admitted that it was her voice, however, she later lied and tried to claim that the man had threatened her.
During her trial, Kaur pleaded guilty to the charge of bribery. She was convicted of bribery, contrary to section 2 (1) and (3) of the Bribery Act 2010.
Jaspreet Kaur was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment.
Following Kaur’s sentencing, Specialist Prosecutor in the Specialist Fraud Division of the CPS said:
“Jaspreet Kaur abused her position of power for financial gain.
“Bribery is corrosive in any walk of life, let alone by someone like Kaur who was involved in deporting people from the UK.”
“We are committed to prosecuting people who undermine confidence in our public services and who believe such corrupt behaviour is unacceptable.”
There have been numerous cases of corruption albeit not in the UK.
One notable case was in July 2018 when the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif was jailed for 10 years.
He was charged with corruption for owning a number of assets which were beyond his known income.
The case came to light following the Panama Papers leak, which incriminated a number of high-profile people regarding corruption and offshore finances.
Sharif initially denied the allegations but was unable to disclose the funds used to purchase the properties.
Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz was jailed for seven years for abetment and a £2 million fine.
Judge Mohammad Bashir also ordered Sharif to pay an £8 million fine.
Their sentences related to a number of luxury properties owned by the ex-prime minister in the UK.
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