Solicitor Filmed Offering to Make Illegal Worker Fine Disappear

A solicitor, Mohammad Alias Yousaf, also known as Alias, has been secretly filmed by the BBC appearing to offer advice on how to make a £45,000 illegal-working fine disappear. He suggested that the fine could be avoided if someone overseas could be presented as the owner of the business.

Alias told an undercover reporter, posing as a mini-mart owner, that his services would cost 10% of the fine, with payment required upfront. He explained that the liability for the fine could be transferred to an individual outside the UK by naming them as the business owner. "Do you have anybody's name who we can use? Anybody who's gone back to Iraq, gone back to Iran?" he asked during a recorded phone call. He presented a hypothetical scenario: "Say we put forward Karwan, yeah? Then fine come on Karwan's name. Karwan not here, Karwan in Iraq."

This practice, known as using a "ghost director," involves someone being paid to put their name on official documents to conceal the true owner of a business. A law enforcement official confirmed to the BBC that this is a widespread illegal practice. Bryony Rest, a senior immigration lawyer who reviewed the recording, called the solicitor's apparent suggestion of a false name "quite appalling."

When the reporter indicated that other individuals had been paid to put their names on the business's lease and utility bills to mask the true owners, Alias responded, "OK, fine. Then I think we should be able to find a way out of this."

The Home Office has reported that approximately £150 million is owed in uncollected illegal-working fines. Between 2021 and 2025, 5,755 fines totaling £215 million were issued for illegal working, but only £60.5 million has been collected. In response to the BBC's investigation, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced a review of the process for issuing and collecting such fines, stating her desire to "ensure we are able to respond to non-compliance and non-payment through all available means."

During a follow-up meeting at his Bradford office, where the reporter paid an upfront fee of £250, Alias became suspicious. The reporter had claimed to have found an individual in Iraq willing to declare themselves the business owner. When speaking with this supposed contact, who was another BBC undercover journalist, Alias repeatedly pressed for confirmation of ownership. "I am not the owner of the shop, but I'm ready to transfer it to my name," the contact stated. Alias replied, "I can only do it if you're telling me, you are the owner of the shop."

Rest noted that Alias's demeanor shifted, and he eventually stated, "I can't advance an untruthful or dishonest... version of events." However, she pointed out that Alias himself had initially proposed the "untruthful version of events."

Alias has denied ever providing such advice or false information to the Home Office. He stated that his work involves challenging penalties lawfully, typically on the grounds that the person found was not an employee. He also claims that when the reporter proposed putting the business in someone else's name, he informed the reporter in writing that he could not pursue an untruthful case and did not act for him. Despite his claim, the £250 down payment has not yet been returned, though Alias states Liberty Solicitors has made attempts to do so.