Thursday, June 04, 2009 LONDON: A court jailed an Indian man and two women Wednesday for providing fake degrees and identities to hundreds of immigrants, in what prosecutors said was the biggest visa scam ever seen in Britain.A judge sentenced Jatinder Kumar Sharma to seven years behind bars and Rakhi Shahi to eight years for orchestrating the fraud factory that allowed Indian and Pakistani nationals to study and work in Britain.Another woman, Neelam Sharma, was given a four-year jail term after being convicted of handling some of the hundreds of thousands of pounds that poured into the business in Southall, west London.Jatinda Sharma has been married to Neelam Sharma for nearly 20 years, although a marriage certificate appeared to show he also recently wed Shahi. All three lived together in Southall.Police suspect the business secured visas for almost 1,000 immigrants over two years, Isleworth Crown Court west of London heard, providing them with fake degree certificates, tax and wage receipts, bank statements and references.During the month-long trial, prosecutors also alleged that the trio used fake documents to secure themselves visas in Britain, under a scheme designed to allow well-qualified individuals with useful skills to work here.Prosecutor Francis Sheridan said the case "represents the largest single prosecution of dishonest records ever submitted to the Home Office by an individual business."He described it as a "a huge attack" on Britain's immigration system."We believe we have cracked a major international conspiracy to facilitate the entry of illegal immigrants into the UK," said Tony Smith, regional director of Britain's Border Agency which manages migration, after the trial.Police and border agency officials discovered 90,000 documents during a raid on the business last February, as well as passports, 50 different types of headed notepaper and 150 ink stamps used to create fake documents.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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