Over the last few weeks and months the UK Border Agency (UKBA) has undertaken significant work. Managers, staff and contractors have been trained to the high standards needed to carry out secure border checks, while staff from foreign posts have been asked to provide additional cover on Wednesday.
In addition, the UKBA has been working with travel partners such as airlines and port operators to identify potential pressure points.
Preparations to meet this Wednesday’s planned action are focused on ensuring every option has been considered to make certain that a pool of suitably-trained staff is available to operate the border on a secure basis
According to the UKBA, staffing on the day will be structured to allow maximum flexibility to meet the aim of maintaining a full range of checks.
Chief executive of the UK Border Agency, Rob Whiteman, said: ‘Securing the border is our priority, and over the last weeks and months we have considered all options to ensure we are prepared for any Trade Union action. We always aim to minimise any disruption caused by the decision of Trade Unions to strike, but travellers could see longer waiting times at some ports and airports.”
Serial fraudster jailed following UKBA investigation
37-year-old Moroccan national Mohamed Bouzalim arrived in the UK in 2001 posing as an Afghan named Mohamed Hussini, claiming that his father had been shot dead by the Taliban.
He later went on to claim that he was severely disabled and convinced the care authorities that he was virtually bedridden, needing 24-hour care and a wheelchair to get around.
The UK Border Agency began an investigation in 2009, and surveillance showed he wasn’t the severely disabled person he claimed to be.
On 17 June last year, Bouzalim was arrested at his council flat in Grangeway, Kilburn. Searches revealed further evidence of his lies, including a home video of him dancing at a wedding.
Bouzalim subsequently pleaded guilty to a series of fraud, deception and immigration offences, and last Friday was sentenced to six years and eleven months in jail by the officials at Isleworth Crown Court.
His brothers Rachid and Abdallah and his sister Zahra also pleaded guilty to a number of fraud charges in connection with the scam, and were given 200 hours, 150 hours and 300 hours community service respectively, suspended for two years.
Benefit fraud uncovered
In total, Bouzalim is estimated to have made around GB pound 400,000 from the scam, taking money in income support, disability living allowance, housing benefit, council benefit and other care allowances. Thousands of pounds had also been spent adapting his flat in Kilburn for the use of a severely disabled person.
Robert Coxhead, senior investigating officer from the UK Border Agency’s Criminal and Financial Investigation team, said: ‘Mohamed Bouzalim was a top class fraudster and con artist. His whole life was a lie. Over a period of years he successfully duped a number of people and organisations into believing his elaborate lies, and as a result he managed to defraud taxpayers of hundreds of thousands of pounds.”
Bouzalim now also faces being stripped of his British citizenship and deported from the UK after serving his sentence..
