🔴 Corrupt Asylum Officer Jailed for Selling UK Stay Rights

Imran Mulla, aged 39, from Blackburn, Lancashire, worked as an executive officer within the Home Office’s asylum team based in Manchester. He was responsible for managing digital caseloads, conducting interviews with applicants, and determining the outcome of asylum claims. Despite having undergone formal training in data protection, counter-fraud procedures, and anti-corruption protocols, Mulla used his position to exploit vulnerable individuals and profit from decisions he was entrusted to make impartially.

The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Mulla telephoned asylum seekers using contact details he had accessed without authorisation from official Home Office systems. He targeted individuals who had been refused asylum or were likely to face rejection, offering to reverse those decisions in exchange for cash payments.

One of those targeted was Nural Amin Begh, a 23-year-old Bangladeshi national who had been refused asylum on 15 February 2024. The day after receiving a formal refusal letter, Begh was contacted by Mulla, who presented himself under a false identity and offered to approve the application for a fee. Six days later, Begh transferred £1,500 into Mulla’s personal bank account. The pair remained in contact over the following weeks.
On 13 March 2024, Mulla unlawfully reassigned Begh’s case to himself in breach of internal allocation procedures and proceeded to grant his asylum claim. In the months that followed, Begh made additional payments to Mulla totalling £3,500. Despite already being under active investigation by his department at this time, Mulla continued to accept money from Begh, whose payments formed the basis of one of the key counts of bribery brought against both men.

Preston Crown Court heard that Mulla had also attempted to solicit payment from a second asylum seeker, a Turkish national, whose case was pending at the time. Mulla contacted the man under a false name and claimed his application was likely to be rejected unless a payment of £2,000 was made. The asylum seeker refused the offer and instead reported the call to his solicitor, prompting further scrutiny of Mulla’s conduct and ultimately leading to his arrest in March 2024.

During police interviews, Mulla exercised his right to remain silent, giving no comment responses throughout. However, he later entered guilty pleas on 12 March 2025 to multiple charges, including conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, unauthorised access to computer material, and three counts of bribery.

Begh also pleaded guilty shortly before his scheduled trial on 9 June 2025 to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and two counts of bribery. He was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment.

Frances Killeen of the CPS North West described Mulla’s actions as a serious abuse of trust. She confirmed that he had used his inside knowledge of the asylum process to exploit people for personal gain, compromising the integrity of the system he was employed to uphold.
Mulla’s conduct included deliberate manipulation of Home Office systems and fraudulent self-assignment of cases. At the time of the offences, he had completed the full suite of Home Office training, including modules on bribery and corruption awareness, intended to prevent exactly this type of misconduct.

The sentencing concludes a year-long investigation into Mulla’s actions and serves as a rare criminal prosecution of a serving Home Office official for corruptly handling asylum claims. Both men are now serving custodial sentences for their roles in what prosecutors described as a calculated scheme to undermine lawful immigration controls.

Well, that’s all for now. But until our next article, please stay tuned, stay informed, but most of all stay safe, and I’ll see you then.