Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner
Mahesh Vora, a 34 year old Indian national, living in Central Road, Wembley, was sentenced to 20 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, given 150 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay 3,750 compensation and court costs, on 7August 2014 at City of London Magistrates Court.
Mr Vora prentended to be a regulated immigration adviser while using the offices of 1 Dream Educare, Unimix House, London, NW10 7TR (now closed down). He also set up an office at Crown House Business Centre, North Circular Road, London NW10 7PN.
The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), which prosecuted Mr Vora, became aware of his activities after receiving complaints from some of his Indian national clients, who had trusted him to help them with their Home Office applications.
In passing sentence, the District Judge said:
You have no experience, training or knowledge to advise in this area of work. You allowed persons to put their trust and future in you. You took a considerable sum of money from them and then avoided them over a long period of time.
You then avoided contact with them. This was a serious offence given the amount of money involved and the impact on the applicants.
Speaking about the decision, Immigration Services Commissioner Suzanne McCarthy said:
Illegally providing immigration advice is a serious offence, and the sentence handed down today reflects this. Peddling illegal immigration advice ruins peoples lives.