23 Sep 2009

Britain's AG fined for employing illegal Tongan immigrant

3:58 pm on 23 September 2009

Britain's Attorney General has been fined 8,000 US dollars for employing an illegal immigrant from Tonga to work as a housekeeper.

Baroness Patricia Scotland was found to have breached Britain's migrant employment laws for hiring 27-year-old Loloahi Tapui, who had overstayed her student visa by five years.

The country's top law officer denied knowing Ms Tapui was in Britain illegally and sacked her immediately after discovering she did not have a valid work visa.

Immigration officials launched an investigation last week amid newspaper reports claiming Ms Tapui was an illegal migrant.

They found the Baroness was in technical breach of laws requiring employers to verify a person's right to work in Britain and keep copies of original documents supplied by the worker.