Hunt on for BA supervisor 'on the run' in India after pulling off huge immigration scam in London

British authorities are hunting for a British Airways (BA) supervisor who is believed to have fled to India after being caught masterminding a huge immigration scam fromfor around five years.

The unnamed suspect, aged 24, worked at Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow airport and charged 25,000 pounds per person to abuse a loophole that would enable them to fly on the BA network without key visa documents.

The Sun tabloid reported that British Police was in touch with Indian authorities to try and trace the suspect, who vanished with his BA ground services partner after getting bail on his arrest.

According to the report, he got clients, mostly from India, to fly to the UK on a temporary visitor visa where he arranged for them to go elsewhere.

Other clients included UK-based asylum claimants who feared being returned to their country of origin.

Canada raised the alarm

Canadian authorities raised the alarm after it became common for arrivals in BA flights to Toronto or Vancouver to immediately seek asylum. This happened for many years and aroused the suspicions of the authorities.

An investigation revealed that all the asylum seekers were checked in by the same man who falsely verified that the travellers had an eTA — electronic travel authorisation — to enter a chosen country.

An eTA can be applied for by a passenger only in their country of origin and would have been rejected without the BA official’s help.

Escape to India

The suspect was arrested on January 6 but on getting bail he flew from Heathrow to India, where he has reportedly bought several homes. Media reports quoting sources pointed out that he essentially "exploited a loophole" knowing that immigration checks are carried out by the airline staff and not by officials anymore.

Wrong data

By inputting wrong data, and claiming eTA documents had been secured, he managed to get people to countries they had no permission to enter in the first place. On arrival, the bogus passengers would shred their documents and claim asylum.

Many hopeful immigrants flew to Britain to pay him to get them to Canada.

Cheating for riches

According to the authorities, it was an "ingenious plan" which has made him millions over the years. No one knows yet the full extent of what he did, said media reports.

BA sources said the airline had terminated the contracts of the supervisor and his partner. And a BA spokesman told the media tht they are assisting the authorities with their investigation.

Meanwhile, the UK Home Office said it would be inappropriate to comment while a probe was on.