Two people were arrested at addresses in London on Tuesday morning on suspicion of fraud and immigration offences. A third person was arrested on suspicion of being in the country illegally. Officers seized phones, jewellery and thousands of pounds in cash during the raid.
The suspects are accused of charging migrants up to £4,500 for fabricated evidence, including staged photographs and fake documents. The network is believed to have aided dozens of asylum claims from Bangladeshi men, who claimed they would face persecution if returned home, by coaching them to pose as gay.
Chris Foster, a regional lead for criminal investigations at the Home Office, said the arrests were connected to a Bangladeshi community LGBT organisation called Apanjon, based in Whitechapel, east London. He said asylum caseworkers initially spotted patterns in suspicious claims, leading to a multi-month investigation.
The operation follows a BBC investigation earlier this year that revealed law firms and advisers were helping migrants pose as gay in an effort to obtain asylum.