for masterminding an illegal immigration racket in the United Kingdom,
the Daily Mailreports.
Investigators, according to the news outfit, believe he helped more
than 100 of his countrymen, including most of his extended family, to
enter the UK illegally under false and stolen identities.
At the centre of the scam was a corrupt Home Office worker who sold
him genuine, but improperly issued, refugee passports for £1,500 each.
Posing as a member of the Nigerian Royal family, he mingled with
diplomats, captains of industry and senior police officers.
Dr Yilkyes Bala was chauffeur-driven in a black Bentley and hosted
sumptuous dinners at Dorchester to mix with society's elite. But the
supposedly flourishing businessman was in fact a criminal mastermind
responsible for an ambitious immigration racket.
Bala is said to use his network of security companies to give the
illegal immigrants references and jobs. They could then 'hit the
jackpot' and obtain a National Insurance number, giving them full
citizen's rights and access to State benefits.
But the racket, which continued for up to 16 years, unravelled when
the Home Office employee was caught out.
This week Bala, 55, was starting a seven year jail sentence from
August 1st, after a jury convicted him of conspiring to breach
immigration laws. A judge at Canterbury Crown Court said the charming
fraudster was 'at the hub' of a 'significant conspiracy' to beat UK
border security.
The charming conman referred to himself as 'His Royal Highness Prince
Yilkyes Bala Finok Tonglele PhD State Crown Prince'. He even carried
an identity card claiming to be 'prince of princes' in the Nigerian
Plateau State Council of Chiefs.
Investigators found he did not inherit the honour, but he claimed it
was bestowed on him later in life, and they have been unable to
disprove this.Bala travelled to Britain in the early 1980s before
studying administration at Greenwich School of Management as part of a
philosophy doctorate.
He already claimed to have a degree from the now-defunct Clayton
University, in Missouri, U.S., long suspected as a 'buy-a-degree'
college. He went on to set up a network of companies and claimed that
at one stage they employed 900 people across Europe, Asia and Africa.
Bala's second wife Giwo Tonglele, 46, was jailed for five years for
conspiring in the scam
The core business was supplying security guards to the construction
industry, including one firm based in Knightsbridge, Central London.
His companies, which included Golden Shield and Mayfair and
Knightsbridge Guarding, also provided alarm monitoring, VIP bodyguards
and uniformed guards for offices.
Within two decades Bala, a father of six, was living in a £1.3million
home in leafy Beckenham, South East London. He joined the Croydon
branch of the Masons and sent his daughters to fee-paying Blackheath
High School.
But a huge investigation, which Bala claimed cost up to £10 million,
unravelled his empire and exposed him as a ruthless conman.
Officials discovered a corrupt Home Office employee based in Croydon
had improperly obtained more than 200 refugee passports.In genuine
cases they are used as travel documents for those claiming asylum in
Britain, often fleeing religious or political persecution.
But the official was illicitly applying for them in the name of
non-existent relatives of genuine refugees. At least 91 documents were
posted to addresses linked to Bala, who ran the Armour Group chain of
companies with offices across the capital.
They were then used as the foundation for applications to remain in
the UK as he and his accomplices ran rings around immigration
officials. Those linked to Bala used every trick in the book to beat
border controls, from urgent medical visas to travelling as domestic
servants.
Some were so shameless that they changed their names by deed poll back
to their original identities within weeks of adopting the persona of a
non-existent refugee.Among those given false identities so they could
remain in Britain were Bala's second wife and his brother.
After his arrest, Bala boasted to officials that he was allowed up to
seven wives, 'and a few more on the side'.
Investigators found his home stuffed with paperwork linked to his
businesses, with documents in his garage filling two vans alone.
Because of the complex web of his businesses it took the Home Office
two years to prepare the case against him.
The illegal immigrants caused chaos in Government systems once they
had obtained their new identities.
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