BBC Investigation: 'Accountant' Facilitates Illegal Working and Erases Fines for Migrant Workers

Undercover Investigation Exposes Crime Network

• 🕵️ An undercover BBC investigation has exposed an organized crime network operating high street businesses across Britain.
• 🤝 This network enables migrants to work illegally by registering businesses in their own names, operating within the black economy for profit.

The 'Accountant' and His Services

• 💰 A self-described "accountant," known as Shaxawan (also Kardos Matin), claims to help set up high street minimarts for a fee.
• 📄 He also boasts of his ability to erase immigration fines for illegal working, even reducing them to zero.
• 🏢 Shak Sawan operates from RKS Solicitors in Huddersfield and claims to have "customers in every city."

Facilitating Illegal Operations

• 🗣️ Shak Sawan met with an undercover reporter posing as an asylum seeker without the right to work, who wanted to buy a minimart to sell illegal cigarettes.
• 🤝 He arranged for a Kurdish man named Zada to be named on official papers, allowing the asylum seeker to control the minimart and fool law enforcement.
• ⚖️ Zohaib Hussain, listed as a paralegal at RKS Solicitors, explained how they could respond anonymously to letters and potentially create false documents to deal with immigration fines.

Scale and Implications of the Network

• 📈 The investigation linked Zada to around 20 minimarts and car washes, and Kardos Matin (Shak Sawan) to official paperwork for dozens of minimarts.
• ⚠️ Trading Standards repeatedly found illegal cigarettes in shops under his name.
• ⚖️ Senior immigration lawyer Bryony Rhyce stated that the idea of making false documents is an offense under the Fraud Act.

Official Response and Challenges

• 📢 The Home Secretary acknowledged that these networks incentivize illegal immigration and stated there will be an investigation.
• 📉 Law enforcement reports a chasm between reality and efforts to stop illegal working, with a repeated call for more help.
• 🏛️ The Immigration Minister expressed outrage and committed to reviewing the situation, potentially changing laws if necessary.