Three immigration officials are among nine people sentenced to prison in July in the British Carribean territory for their part in a “fraud and bribery” conspiracy involving English language tests.
Last year, the three were found guilty of running, between 2015 and 2016, fraudulent Department of Immigration English tests which are needed for immigration to the Caymans.
In summing up, sentencing judge Roger Chapple said that, “corruption had taken hold of the Immigration Department,” to such an extent that if one corrupt official could not be found to administer an English test, another could be substituted in their place. One immigrant paid the conspirators administering the test $1,500.
Marcus Alexander, Carlos Robinson (both immigration officials) and Santo Castro Castillo were described by Chapple as the, “principle movers of the scheme,” and received sentences of between three and four years. Others received fines, suspended sentences or conditional discharges. Those who are Dominican or Honduran nationals now face deportation.
