A Home Office worker who cold-called asylum seekers and offered to grant their UK asylum applications in return for cash has been jailed.
Imran Mulla, 39, can be pictured for the first time by today after he was sentenced to four-and-a-half-years in prison for taking a £3,500 bung from a Bangladeshi man.
Mulla, from Blackburn, Lancashire, telephoned asylum seekers who would likely lose their cases and told them he could help get their rejection overturned in return for cash.
The civil servant, who worked for the Home Office in Manchester, continued to take money from one asylum seeker when he was under investigation by his bosses.
He has pleaded guilty to immigration offences and bribery at Preston Crown Court after manipulating the system to overturn a refused asylum claim.
Another man, Nural Amin Begh, 23, was jailed for 18 months, for bribery after he paid Mulla to grant his asylum application.
Frances Killeen, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: ‘Imran Mulla was in a trusted position in the asylum team at the Home Office.
‘He abused that trust to line his own pockets by offering to change the outcome of asylum applications for money’.
Mulla worked as an executive officer in the asylum team based in Manchester.
He had completed all his training including courses on security and data protection and counter fraud, bribery and corruption.
He managed a digital caseload and interviewed asylum seekers, considering their applications.
Begh is a foreign national from Bangladesh who was refused asylum on February 15 2024. He was informed by letter and advised of the appeal policy.
The following day, he was contacted by Mulla, who obtained his details from Home Office systems.
Six days later, Begh transferred £1,500 into Mulla’s account. The pair communicated several times over the following days.
On March 13, Mulla breached policy to allocate Begh’s case to himself and granted the asylum application.
Begh transferred further cash over the next few months totalling £3,500.
Around the same time telephoned his second target, a Turkish national who was waiting to hear if his asylum had been granted.
Mulla rang the Turkish national, giving a false name, and told the man his application was likely to be refused but he could help if he paid him £2,000.
He told the man he would call back later.
The man was concerned about the call so he reported it to his immigration solicitor and Mulla was arrested in March 2024. He made no comment during his police interviews.
While under investigation, Mulla continued to receive money from Begh.
Mulla pleaded guilty on March 12 2025, at Preston Crown Court, to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, unauthorised access to computer material and three counts of bribery.
Begh pleaded guilty on June 9 2025, prior to his trial starting at Preston Crown Court, to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and two counts of bribery.