Bogus Professor Jailed for Providing Illegal Immigration Advice

12/08/2008

A BOGUS professor was jailed at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday (11 September) for illegally providing immigration advice in exchange for thousands of pounds.

Max Kingsley, who was convicted of 12 counts of illegal provision of immigration advice and services on 8 August, was sentenced to nine months imprisonment on each count to run concurrently.

In handing down the nine-month prison sentence His Honour Judge Price said Kingsley's illegal activities were a 'deliberate and planned criminality done for profit', and had caused 'loss and real heartache to vulnerable people' that he had 'exploited'.

Kingsley, from Margate, Kent, trading under the name of National and International Law & Advisory Co Ltd, passed himself off as a professor and gave immigration advice while not regulated. The majority of his work was carried out from his business premises at 412A Edgware Road, London but he also registered premises at 35 Bridge Street, Hitichin, Hertfordshire.

Kingsley, 59, was not registered with the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) to provide immigration advice. His application for registration, made in April 2001 was refused, as the OISC was not satisfied that he was fit and competent to provide immigration advice.

Regardless of this Kingsley continued to provide immigration advice illegally in exchange for thousands of pounds between April 2001 and February 2007. His victims were often left out of pocket and with their immigration status in jeopardy due to his poor handling of their cases.

One of his victims, from Lithuania paid over £5,000 in personal savings to Kingsley to lodge an appeal against a refused marriage application. The case was eventually resolved without the need for an appeal when Lithuania joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, but Kingsley refused to return any of the money to the victim.

The Immigration Services Commissioner, Suzanne McCarthy, said:

"Max Kingsley caused loss and heartache to many vulnerable people. We are pleased with the outcome of this case."

In the UK, immigration advisers must be regulated by the OISC, unless they are exempted by a ministerial order or belong to a 'designated professional body', for example, the Law Society.

The OISC currently regulates almost 4,000 advisers across the UK and provides a list of those allowed to give advice on its website - www.oisc.gov.uk

Notes to the Editor:

  1. The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) is an independent public body set up under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
  2. It is a criminal offence to give immigration advice or services in the UK unless you are regulated by the OISC, a regulated solicitor, barrister or legal executive or European equivalent or exempted by Ministerial Order.
  3. For more information contact Addeel Khan, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Officer at the OISC, on 020 7211 1630.