Two men have been arrested for allegedly orchestrating a scam to help Indian citizens enter Canada without proper documentation through British Airways flights. The passengers were told to seek asylum once they arrived.
According to The Times of London, the two men worked for British Airways and would enable people to board flights from Heathrow Airport without proper documentation for a fee of £25,000 per person or about $43,000.
The two men used their positions at British Airways to get people past two separate airport checkpoints once they had received their fee.
“He ensured that they came to his check-in desk and then made sure he was rostered to be at the boarding gate. We have a lot of people who connect from inbound Indian flights onto outbound Canadian flights and he claimed it was useful for him being at the gate because he was bilingual,” an airline source told the Times.
Once the passengers, who were predominantly coming from India arrived in Canada, they would claim asylum.
Other clients were UK-based asylum claimants who feared that they would be denied the right to remain in the UK and be deported.
Authorities estimate the scam took in about £3 million or over $5.1 million.
The two men were arrested on Jan. 6 after Canadian immigration officials sounded the alarm on the growing number of people arriving in Toronto or Vancouver via flights without the necessary documentation and then immediately claiming asylum.
Both men fled to India after being released on bail.
One of the two men owns several properties in India and their current whereabouts remains unknown.
U.K and Indian authorities both have an extradition treaty with Canada, should the two be apprehended.
British Airways told National Post in a statement that they “are assisting the authorities with their investigation.”
Several other Indians are currently facing deportation on charges of entering Canada through a scheme involving fake acceptance letters to Canadian universities last year.
