'Our man in Albania' accused of granting visas to mates is cleared
Cleared: Diplomat Mark Griffiths leaves Southwark Crown Court
A British diplomat accused of granting visas to his Albanian ‘mates’ was cleared yesterday.
Mark Griffith, 45, was acquitted of failing to scrutinise work permit applications when he granted Albanian immigrants visas allowing them to work in Britain.
Mr Griffith was alleged to have allowed preferred candidates to ‘jump the queue’ for visas while working as an entry clearance officer for the British Embassy in the Albanian capital of Tirana.
He was cleared of two counts of misconduct in a public office.
But a crooked businessman who submitted dozens of bogus work permit applications for Albanians to work in British care homes was convicted.
Samuel Fongho, 40, used false paperwork to convince officials his clients could take jobs that could not be filled by British or EU nationals.
Southwark Crown Court heard Fongho, who ran a recruitment consultancy, made fraudulent applications for up to 68 Albanians, providing them with a ‘passport to come and live here forever’.
Fongho was found guilty of conspiring to use false instruments and will be sentenced on September 9.
Charges that Cameroon-born Fongho improperly influenced Mr Griffith to grant visas negligently were thrown out during the seven-week trial due to lack of evidence.
Griffith, 45, was based in the Albanian capital Tirana where he was alleged to have allowed visa candidates to jump the queue
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