A former British Airways employee is reportedly under investigation for allegedly orchestrating a £3 million immigration fraud from Heathrow airport check-in desks.
The 24-year-old suspect quit his job and moved to India after being released on bail after paying compensation, the Times reported.
A BA check-in supervisor is said to have handed passengers to Terminal 5 without valid visa documents and charged them £25,000 to board a flight.
Sources told the Guardian that in this case it appears they were helping people evade immigration laws and enter Canada, and that the passengers had the correct documents to stay in the UK.
Most of the travelers who benefited were Indian nationals who were planning to apply for asylum in Canada and were told to fly from India to the UK on temporary visitor visas, the Times reported.
The remainder were UK-based asylum seekers who were denied the right to remain and were at risk of deportation.
A BA spokesperson said on Tuesday: “We are assisting the authorities with their investigation.”
The man was arrested on January 6 and has since fled to India, where he is said to have several homes. The newspaper said he was accompanied by his partner, who also worked for the airline.
British Border Force and police are working with Indian authorities to trace the pair, but their names have not been released. The UK has an extradition treaty with India.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It would be inappropriate to comment while an investigation is ongoing.”
Airlines typically check whether passengers meet the entry requirements of their destination.
Passengers with visas will undergo a manual visa check before their boarding pass is validated.
The alleged fraud is believed to have involved a passenger who booked a flight to Canada without a valid visa.
Aviation officials said the suspect then made sure to go to the check-in desk in Terminal 5, where he could have mistakenly entered the evidence of his visa into the system.
He will also process passengers at the boarding gate, the Times reported. The passengers will reportedly apply for asylum upon arrival in Canada.
The paper said Canadian authorities were concerned after an emerging pattern of passengers on BA flights bound for Toronto or Vancouver arriving without visas to apply for asylum.
