A Peruvian national who ran a number of Islington-based immigration advice firms has been found guilty of scamming foreigners while offering illegal help.

Miguel Boris Koseleff Rios, of Highbury Quadrant, Highbury, duped would-be immigrants into paying hundreds of pounds for services he didn’t deliver, subjecting them to serious “emotional and financial” suffering.

The 56-year-old also submitted forms to the UK Border Agency on behalf of clients seeking to enter the UK while giving advice without being regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) – a legal requirement.

An OISC probe was launched after a Cuban man was duped into handing over £1,000 for a spousal visa – ending in Koseleff Rios being sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court last week. He pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawfully providing immigration services.

District Judge Vanessa Lloyd told Koseleff Rios: “These are serious offences. There are victims who could have made applications elsewhere who have suffered emotionally and financially.”

The OISC’s investigation revealed Koseleff Rios had been submitting illegal applications to the UK Border Agency on behalf of clients since July 2012.

Companies House records show Koseleff Rios has been a director of three Islington-based Immigration advice firms – UKIAC and the UK Immigration Advisory Centre, in Pride Court, White Lion Street, and Crescent UK Immigration in Station Place, Finsbury Park.

The offences carried out related to the UK Immigration Advisory Centre only. There is no suggestion either UKIAC or Crescent UK Immigration were involved in the scam. All three companies have now been dissolved.

Koseleff Rios was ordered to pay more than £2,000 and was handed a three-month community order with a night time curfew.

OISC commissioner Suzanne McCarthy said: “Peddling illegal immigration advice ruins people’s lives.

“Where it is clear an individual is flouting the law, the OISC will not hesitate to use the full extent of its powers to stop them.

“I am delighted with the outcome of this case and I hope it sends a clear message to other people considering offering immigration advice – either act within the law or you will find yourself in court.”

The OISC, set up under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, is responsible for ensuring all immigration advisers fulfil requirements of good practice. Anyone suspecting an illegal adviser should call the OISC on 0845 000 0046.”