Four men have been sentenced for their parts in a “well-organised and professionally-operated” conspiracy to smuggle Iranian asylum seekers into the UK. The Swansea-based scam involved the creation of fake identities and travel documents and the booking of dozens of flights on carriers including Ryanair and EasyJet.
The illegal activity first came to light after the discovery of selfies taken onboard aircraft in 2019 which led to a four-year long investigation that revealed a conspiracy stretching from Iran to south Wales. Swansea Crown Court heard that while four men were identified and charged, their accomplices – both in the UK and around the rest of Europe and including those at the top of the gang – were yet to be traced and prosecuted. The total number of people brought into the UK by the gang is unknown.
Ffion Thomas, prosecuting, said Kaveh Nazari, Seyed Hangeroud, Smerdi Hakhamensh and Mohammad Khatir were involved in a “well-organised and professionally-operated system to bring individuals into the UK” using false identities and passports. She said the gang provided false travel documents to Iranians who wanted to enter the country and claim asylum, booked flights on carriers such as Ryanair and EasyJet, and facilitated travel.
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The court heard the gang used “a tried and test route” involving individuals from Iran entering Europe – usually Italy – then making a series of internal European flights to cities including Berlin, Athens, and Paris before making the final leg of the journey from Spanish airports to UK airports such as Gatwick. Once in the UK the new arrivals would typically present themselves to immigration officials as undocumented travellers and would then claim asylum. The flights were usually booked and paid for in Swansea.
The prosecutor said “at the top of the tree” at the Swansea end of the operation was Nazari who worked with his “trusted assistant” Hangeroudi. Co-defendants Hakhamensh and Khatir, who are brothers, were placed lower down in the hierarchy. She said the investigation into the operation of the conspiracy showed flows of tens of thousands of pounds into, out of, and between multiple bank accounts linked to the defendants and showed more than £50,000 made in third-party deposits.
The court heard that phones seized from the defendants uncovered numerous pictures of boarding cards, identity documents, passport photographs, and copies of signatures which were “the material” to allow the creation of false identities and travel documents. Many of the fake addresses proved in the documents were in Swansea. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here
Kaveh Nazari -Credit:South Wales Police
Seyed Hangeroudi -Credit:South Wales Police
Smerdis Hakhamanesh -Credit:South Wales Police
Kaveh Nazari, aged 41, of Parc Prison, Bridgend; Seyed Medhi Dehghan Hangeroudi, aged 28, of Boileau Parade, Ealing, London; and Smerdi Hakhamensh, aged 29, and 34-year-old Mohammad Ahmadi Khatir – both of Phoebe Road, Copper Quarter, Swansea – had all previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate the entry of asylum seekers into the UK when they returned to the dock for sentencing. None has any previous convictions except for Nazari who has two previous convictions for six offences – a battery from 2014 and making and distributing indecent images of children from 2023, for which he was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Barrister Michael Gumulka, for Nazari, said his client initially became involved in the operation by helping members of his family to enter the UK but it was accepted that “matters led on from there”. He said medicolegal reports before the court detailed Nazari’s political activities in Iran which led to his detention, imprisonment, torture and subsequent hospitalisation.
He said his client still carried “evidence on his body” from his time in Iranian prisons. The barrister said Nazari had been held on remand in Swansea prison for the last 18 months and documents showed him to be a helpful and hard-working inmate who was “always polite and respectful towards staff”, and he described the defendant as “intelligent, sympathetic and empathetic despite the horrors of his past”.
Kieran Galvin, for Hangeroudi, said there had been no coercion or exploitation of others in what his client had done and those he had helped enter the UK were family or people with friendship connections. He said his client was a “gentle soul” who had moved to London from Swansea to make a fresh start and who had integrated himself in society and who had recently been promoted to manager of the Ealing coffee shop where he worked.
Andrew Evans, for Khatir, said his client’s involvement in the conspiracy had been limited to one event, namely arranging for his parents to come to the UK, and he said his motivation for doing that had been humanitarian rather than financial. He said the defendant’s “lifestyle, ambitions, and religion – Christianity – were at odds with the regime” in Tehran, and said he had been concerned for his Christian parents’ welfare despite his father having a position as the mayor of the town where they lived. The advocate said Khatir had successfully completed a degree in music technology at the University of West London and wished to pursue UK citizenship, follow a career in the music industry, and make a positive contribution to society.
David Singh, for Hakamenesh, said his client’s case was not one of a “people trafficker” who has no regard for the safety of the people they are exploiting but of someone who, like his brother Khatir, had sought to arrange for his parents to come to the UK. He said his client had worked in a range of jobs since coming to the UK, from being a delivery driver to working in Harrods, and with ambitions to be a model and having obtained a degree in fashion and textiles he was now looking for a career.
Judge Huw Rees said the prosecution had described a well-organised and professional operation designed to facilitate the entry of Iranian nationals into the UK in order to claim asylum. He said Nazari and Hangeroudi did what they did for financial gain and he was able to differentiate them from the other defendants who had been acting out of familial loyalty
With a 20% discount for his guilty plea Nazari was sentenced to 67 months in prison, and with a 10% discount for his guilty plea – which was entered part-way through his trial – Hangeroudi was sentenced to 43 months in prison. The defendants will serve up to half their sentences in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. With 10% discounts for their pleas – which again were entered during their trial – Khatir and Hakamenesh were sentenced to 22 months in prison suspended for 12 months. Both the defendants were also ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work in the community. The court heard the defendants were now “persons of interest” to the Home Office.
Speaking after the sentencing, Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: “Today’s sentencing makes clear that anyone who exploits our border for profit can expect to face justice. We’re doing everything we can to boost our border security as part of our Plan for Change, and stay ahead of the people smuggling gangs attempting to undermine the safety and security of the UK. I’m grateful to the officers whose hard work put these criminals behind bars.”
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