Baroness' Former Housekeeper Leaves The Country

Uk Border Agency advises Tapui to depart after serving eight months for fraud and overstaying visa

Baroness Scotland's former housekeeper Loloahi Tapui has left the country on the advice of the UK Border Agency her husband told ChiswickW4.com.

Alex Zivancevic said his wife, who was sentenced to eight months in prison for fraud, possessing a false identity document, and for overstaying her student visa by four years, will not be returning to Chiswick.

Tapui worked at the Chiswick home of the Attorney General for eight months until September 2009 when it was discovered that she had overstayed her visa.

She was subsequently arrested along with her husband and their flat searched by immigration officers.

She was sentenced to four months for fraud, four months for possessing a false identity stamp, and concurrently one month for overstaying her student visa and ordered to pay £1,600 prosecution costs plus defence costs.

It took the jury of eight men and four women less than 90 minutes to decide that Tongan born Tapui deceived the Attorney General about her legal status in order to obtain the job as a cleaner in the Baroness' home.

Tapui insisted Baroness Scotland never saw the passport or asked about her legal status but admitted she did see her CV, pay slips and her marriage certificate when she applied for the job in Chiswick in January 2009.

Baroness Scotland was fined £5,000 for employing Tapui. However, despite calls for her resignation, the Attorney General managed to hang onto her job after former PM Gordon Brown said she had only committed a “technical” breach of the legislation she had helped to push through Parliament.

The news of Tapui's departure comes at the same time The UK Border Agency revealed only 20% of fines imposed on employers who hire illegal workers have been paid, leaving tens of millions of pounds uncollected.

The figures were released in a written answer to Labour MP Frank Field, but do not show how many of the civil penalties have been reduced or cancelled on appeal.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migration Watch, told The Standard: "This scheme could be a very useful instrument in the fight against illegal immigration, helping reduce the scope for illegal workers who undercut law abiding businesses and legal workers."

But he added: "It seems that the UKBA is taking the employers' word that they cannot afford to pay or are too ready to agree a reduced figure in the hope of getting at least some of the fine.To collect just 20% of the available fines is frankly lamentable.

"There must be much more determined collection of fines to send a clear message that those employing illegal workers will suffer financially. Otherwise, the job opportunities for British workers will continue to be thoroughly undermined by people from across the world who have no right to be here at all."

March 14, 2011