'CITIZENS' GET CANED; Bogus ceremony included fake Home Secretary, trial hears.

Byline: Paul O'Hare

A GANG conned immigrants out of thousands of pounds to go through a bogus British citizenship ceremony - complete with a fake Home Secretary.

Some of the desperate Chinese folk handed over pounds 20,000 to get a UK passport.

But they were duped by the gang, who hired a film crew and actors to convince their victims the ceremony, yards from the Houses of Parliament, was real.

They sang God Save The Queen and swore an oath in a room decked out with a photo of the monarch and Union Flags, before the fake minister made a speech.

Then they were handed passports, visas and other documents - not knowing they were also fakes.

Gang member Xiang Li, 29, appeared at Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday over the fraud.

Those who were conned had paid up to pounds 20,000, most of it in cash, to Xiang following the ceremony.

The gang set up two bogus law firms, called Lombards and Borough de Law, and advertised their services in the Chineselanguage press in the UK.

Deposit Those who attended the rented offices at various addresses on Lombard Street, close to the Bank of England, were given a presentation and asked for a deposit of up to pounds 2000.

In the months that followed, they received confirmation that their citizenship applications had been successful and were invited to the ceremony.

It was only when they tried to use the passports they discovered they were fakes.

Simon Clarke, prosecuting, said: "A British citizenship ceremony was conducted at the Methodist Central Hall, almost opposite the Houses of Parliament.

"There was a large picture of the Queen, the Union Flag was on display, an oath was taken by those present and the national anthem was played.

"Any foreign national new to citizenship would have no reason to doubt the authenticity of that ceremony. No doubt, a new citizen would perhaps have been proud and honoured to have participated.

"Convincing as it was for those present, it was false in every respect.

"The hall had been hired as a realistic venue, actors had been retained to play the roles of Home Secretary and immigration officials and a film crew were present to record the proceedings.

"Unlike a genuine ceremony, British passports, visas and other residence papers were handed out but the participants were not to know that wasn't correct procedure.

Crude "Where those documents have been recovered by the authorities they have proved to be forgeries - in may cases somewhat crude and poor quality.

"The actors and film crews too had been deceived. It seems they were told they were making a promotional video welcoming Chinese nationals into the UK."

Xiang, of Stratford, east London, has admitted his role in the ceremony.

He has pleaded guilty to two counts of assisting unlawful entry into a member state of the EU, two counts of fraud and one of money laundering.

But he denies a further count of assisting entry and one of fraud.The trial continues.

CAPTION(S):

CONVINCING: Ceremony took place near Parliament, using a photo of the Queen VENUE: The Methodist Central Hall