Articles by Ed Thomas

Technology

Crime fixer caught by BBC offering to erase £60K fines on migrant workers

Speaking quickly and in a hushed tone, Mr Hussain fired questions at our reporter about his cover story - the mini-mart and the immigration fine. "How many illegal workers? So how much is the fine? How many times did they catch you?" Then, with a chuckle, he asked what was sold in the mini-mart: "Do you sell vapes? Legal or illegal? Bit of both as well?" When Ali said his mini-mart was registered under someone else's name, Mr Hussain said: "Very clever then, already very clever." The first step, Mr Hussain said, would be to deal with the fine. If Ali was not let off the fine, he continued, "we will look at certain other things that we have to do as precautions". "Sometimes we might have to make documents," said Mr Hussain, such as "business agreements". Ali then asked if the fine would be transferred to someone else's name. Mr Hussain said that would be "the last resort." Before the meeting ended, Mr Hussain warned that the immigration authorities would want to jump on the fine straight away - making a cutting-motion across his throat. He said his charges would be £3,500 and he "would look after us". He then asked Ali to share any future Immigration Enforcement letters with Shaxawan.