Migrant members of an ‘infamous’ gang accused of $35 million fraud in Paraguay win reprieve against deportation from Britain after telling the court they might be harmed in prison

The pair of Paraguayan gang members, who are ‘no ordinary prisoners’, have won an appeal on human rights grounds against an immigration tribunal that ordered their extradition to Paraguay.

The ‘high profile’ migrants, who are a divorced couple, claimed they would be at risk of violence from other prisoners because their crimes are so well known in the country.

They also said that they were both too medically unwell to be extradited because they would not be able to receive the correct medical care.

The couple cannot be named for legal reasons but were referred to as EG and MS.

They moved to the UK in 2007 and were once a married couple, it was heard.

After criminal proceedings were launched against them in Paraguay in June 2012 and an Interpol notice was subsequently issued, the couple were arrested in London in 2015.

They were accused in Paraguay of money laundering and defrauding a state-run pension fund of $35 million.

In 2016 the extradition matter came before Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where the issue was found to be whether the prison they would be held in pending a trial would breach their human rights.

MS was to be held in Tacumbú prison in Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, in a separate unit away from the general population, and EG would be held in a women’s prison.

This was found to be adequate, and the extraditions were passed to the Home Office to be processed.

The migrants appealed the decision in 2017, and they were heard in the First-tier Tribunal, but they were dismissed on human rights grounds.

In 2021, they made new representations to the Home Office, stating that there was a higher level of violence in prisons in Paraguay, the level of healthcare had diminished, and the health of the couple had deteriorated.

They were refused leave to remain despite appealing the decision on another two occasions.

They have now appealed again to the Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber and have won a reprieve against their extradition.

EG has significant medical issues because she has previously suffered from breast and skin cancer, as well as having chronic asthma, for which she needs both preventative and relieving inhalers.

A medical report explained that a failure to comply with that treatment regime, or patchy compliance, could lead to an acute asthma attack within weeks.

She also has severe mental health issues and suffers from PTSD, depression, anxiety and has self-harmed in the past.

Her prison in Paraguay made assurances that EG’s medical needs would be met, but this was challenged by an expert – who said there is a ‘real risk’ she would not have access to the required medication.

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