Construction boss jailed after illegal migrants found working on Midland Metropolitan Hospital

Illegal migrants were found working on the crisis-hit Midland Metropolitan Hospital site after a Home Office-led investigation.

Construction company boss Jagraj Singh Mand admitted employing 38 illegal migrants, as well as acquiring and possessing criminal property.

Home Office Immigration Enforcement Criminal and Financial Investigation officers carried out an intelligence-led visit to check for illegal workers at the Smethwick site in October 2016.

Officers found three Indian nationals working on site who had no right to work in the UK, Birmingham Crown Court was told.

All three individuals were arrested – as well as Mand, who was present during visit, and was arrested on suspicion of assisting unlawful immigration.

The court heard investigators found Mand supplied 38 illegal workers – all Indian nationals – to the hospital's construction site between April 24, 2016, and October 19, 2016.

Three were arrested during the site visit, while the other 35 were identified through further checks.

Mand's business, Magnet Site Services, which was based in Bloxwich, has since been dissolved.

Magnet Site Services was a subcontractor on the multi-million pound Midland Metropolitan Hospital development and supplied concrete labourers and general manual workers.

The site was being managed by construction giant Carillion, which collapsed into administration in January 2018.

Work stopped on the Midland Met Hospital which has been mired in delays ever since.

Mand's company was not a direct sub-contractor of Carillion, the Home Office said.

Mand's home was searched after his arrest and two ledgers were recovered showing he was taking a commission from the gross pay of each worker.

This income was not declared to HM Revenue & Customs.

The court heard the most recent ledger, which started in October 2016, contained only details of the workers who were legally present with a right to work, omitting those who were not.

Officers believed this record had been started shortly before the visit from Immigration Enforcement.

It came after Magnet Site Services received a letter from the construction site managers requesting assurance that right to work document checks had taken place on all workers.

Mand, 43, from Dudley Port, in Tipton, was jailed for five years at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday.

As well as his jail sentence, the judge also ordered Mand be disqualified from acting as company director for four years.

Andy Radcliffe, Immigration Enforcement CFI officer, said: "Mand was fully aware of the illegal immigration status of a considerable portion of his employees.

"Once he suspected that authorities were closing in, he went to some lengths to fabricate ledgers and cover up this illicit side of his operation.

“Employing illegal workers goes hand in hand with exploitation and the criminals in charge are making money off the backs of vulnerable individuals.

"That is why we are determined to clamp down on this type of offence and will not hesitate to act where there is evidence of criminality.”