https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/mirwais-patang-ministry-of-justice-court-translator-qualifications-capita-b919645.html
12th February 2021
‘Extremely poor’: Translator conned his way into court role based on
bogus qualifications
An interpreter with “extremely poor” translation
skills conned his way into a job in London’s courts and tribunals on the basis
of forged qualifications, a court heard.
Mirwais Patang, 27, translated for defendants in
dozens of cases over more than four years despite having no formal training,
and submitted bogus timesheets to boost his earnings.
He got the job with contractor Capita when he was
just 18-years-old, forging a certificate to convince bosses he was trained to
interpret Pashto and Dari.
Patang then assumed the identity of his older
brother - a genuine interpreter – to fraudulently claim he had improved his
qualifications and could work as a Tier 1 translator.
He was eventually caught out after helping a second
bogus interpreter, Solimann David, 27, to get work on an Old Bailey criminal
trial about a child sex ring.
The
ruse was exposed when Patang tried to overcharge for David’s work, submitting
payment claims with the forged signature of the court clerk in the case,
Southwark crown court heard today.
An
investigation then uncovered the extent of Patang’s fraud, between March 2012
and October 2016, with an expert called in to assess court recordings finding
Patang’s translation efforts were “poor” or “extremely poor”.
The
court heard the Crown Prosecution Service is disclosing details of Patang’s
illegal activities to legal teams in the cases he worked on, raising the
possibility of a string of appeals.
Judge
Phillip Bartle QC today sentenced Patang to two years in prison suspended for
two years, and ordered him to carry out 300 hours of community service.
David
was sentenced to a six-month suspended sentence, with 100 hours of community
service and rehabilitation session, with the judge telling him: “Public
confidence in the criminal justice system will have been impacted by the fact
you pretended to be somebody who you were not, and pretended to be a qualified
interpreter when you clearly were not.”
But
he added that in contrast to Patang, David’s interpreting skills during the Old
Bailey trial had later been analysed and passed as “good”.
“This has been a long and complex investigation with further fraudulent
activity and deceit being uncovered at every twist and turn”, said Detective
Andy Cope, from the City of London Police’s fraud team.
“The blind greed shown
by Patang, and the total disregard for the implications of his actions and what
it might mean for the integrity of serious criminal trials, is truly appalling.
“By
thinking of only his own financial gain, he has undermined confidence in the
criminal justice system and put victims of crime through unfair stress and
worry."
The
court heard Patang used his own name to initially get a job with Capita,
providing a forged qualification certificate to be hired as a Tier 3
interpreter.
He
assumed his older brother’s identity in 2014 and used another forged
certificate to be upgraded to Tier 1 work.
He
worked on 140 cases, at crown courts, magistrates court, tribunals, and county
courts around the Greater London area, with the total loss to the courts
service assessed at more than £75,000.
Patang
was caught out over-claiming for work at Watford magistrates court in November
2012, when he tried to bill for a full day’s work when the case had been
adjourned.
Despite
this incident he kept the job and repeated the trick of claiming money for more
hours than he had actually worked.
The
fraud unraveled after David turned up in Patang’s place for the trial of six
men accused of operating a child sex ring in Aylesbury, and the timesheets
submitted were spotted as bogus.
Patang,
whose sister is a barrister, had forged the signature of the trial clerk who
had taken two weeks’ leave, the court heard.
Jeremy
Benson QC, prosecuting, said Patang’s phone had been set to automatically wipe
when seized by police, and there was no trace at his home of paperwork relating
to his interpreting job.
“It
was clear he had been tipped off that the police had become involved”, he said.
Patang
wrote a letter to the judge calling his actions “stupid” and “naïve”, but was
told: “I’m sure he knew exactly what he was doing.”
However
the judge imposed a suspended sentence as Patang is the sole carer for his
mother and he found a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. Patang, from
Hillingdon, admitted three counts of forgery, eight charges of fraud, and one
count of conspiracy to commit fraud.
David,
also from Hillingdon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/court-interpreter-fake-mirwais-patang-b1801634.html
https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/convicted-fake-interpreter-worked-on-140-court-cases/5107427.article
https://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/19088602.unqualified-court-interpreter-sentenced-working-140-cases/
