THE directors of a Sheffield learning centre which ran a government citizenship test for immigrants sat the test themselves, pocketed hundreds of pounds in cash, and issued thousands of fake certificates, a court heard.
Mohamed Yousif, aged 33, Abdirashid Yusuf, 36, and Mustafa Yassin, 29, all from Sheffield, are accused of charging immigrants applying for British passports hundreds of pounds for Life in the UK Test certificates.
The scam was so successful they recruited 'introducers' Mehmet Ince, 36, and Dari Halil, 35, to sell certificates to immigrants from all over the UK – with some people paying up to £700 in cash.
Mubarak Yusuf, 36, of Holywell Heights, Brightside, is accused of joining the conspiracy when he started working at the company in 2006.
David Brooke, prosecuting, told Sheffield Crown Court the men were directors of City Wide Learning in Broomhall, designated as one of dozens of approved UK centres to run the Home Office test by the Sheffield-based University for Industry and Learn Direct.
He said between October 2005 and February 2007 more than 5,000 test certificates were issued by the Sheffield centre.
The scam was uncovered when Learn Direct noticed the pass rate in Sheffield was higher than anywhere else.
Mr Brooke said: "The pass rate was 84 per cent, compared to the national average of 66 per cent.
"They also noticed many successful candidates in Sheffield had failed the test elsewhere.
"Another thing noticed was that, of the 4,500 people who sat the test, 2,000 candidates had come from outside the Sheffield area – from Cornwall, Scotland, Newcastle, London, Coventry, Bristol, Oxford, Middlesex and Milton Keynes.
"The suspicion was those people hadn't come to Sheffield at all.
"Someone else had taken the test for them – why else would they travel all that way?"
Mr Brooke said candidates filled in a form and produced photo ID. They were logged into a computer by one of the directors, supervised by another, and given 45 minutes to answer 24 general knowledge questions selected randomly by the computer.
If they achieved a pass rate of 75 per cent, the computer then generated a certificate which could be sent to the Home Office to support a passport application.
On February 10, 2007, police logged on to the City Wide Learning system which showed seven people were at the centre sitting the test. Minutes later they raided the premises and found only Mohammed Yousif and Mustafa Yassin inside.
Police also raided Abdirashid Yusuf's home in Norwood Drive, Norwood. They found an envelope containing a list of names, cash, and a mobile phone. A text sent to Mubarak from the phone read: 'Can u do Qasims, the two Somalis and da three Afghans in the top tray?'
Home Office officials tracked down some of those to whom certificates had been issued, and they admitted they hadn't taken the test.
One said he'd paid £300 for a certificate, while another said he had paid £400.
Mr Brooke said: "The prosecution say there's clear evidence it was possible to obtain a false certificate without taking the test at City Wide Learning at all."
Yousif, of Holywell Heights, Brightside; Yassin of Headford Grove, Broomhall; Halil, of Gleadless Common, Gleadless; Mubarak Yusuf, of Meadow Street, Netherthorpe; Abdirashid Yusuf, of Norwood Drive, Norwood; and Ince, of Bridge End, London are all accused of conspiring together to defraud the UK Border Agency.
All deny the charge. The trial continues.
READ MORESubscribe to The StarMain news indexYour lettersFeaturesSouth Yorkshire's environmental newsKids ZoneMore business newsMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsLatest sport