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Illegal immigrant in NHS swindle is jailed
11 November 2009
A Nigerian illegal immigrant has been jailed for a year after conning the NHS out of more than £8,000.
At Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday (9 November), Elizabeth Ogunfuwa, 20, pleaded guilty to four fraud charges relating to possession and use of a fake passport and fake Home Office letter.
She was sentenced to 12 months.
Ogunfuwa, of Camden Close, Chadwell St Mary, had used the false documents to gain entry to Chelmsford's Anglia Ruskin University to study as a mental health nurse.
She had also used them to successfully apply for an NHS bursary to support her during the course, which started in March last year.
Acting on intelligence, UK Border Agency officers arrested Ogunfuwa on May 21. By that point she had already received more than £8,000 of the bursary.
Immigration officer Jon Lewis of the UK Border Agency said:
'Ms Ogunfuwa sought to defraud the taxpayer of thousands of pounds and then lied repeatedly in an attempt to cover up her crimes.
'We welcome the sentence which sends out the message that we will not tolerate immigration abuse and will punish those who break the immigration laws.'
Hillary Cullen from the NHS Counter Fraud Service said:
'Elizabeth Ogunfuwa, an illegal immigrant, duped the NHS and Anglia Ruskin University by submitting false documents to take a place on a nurse training course. By committing this fraud Ms Ogunfuwa may have deprived another potential candidate from gaining the professional status of Registered Nurse, an internationally recognised qualification and membership of a profession that is rightly proud of its tradition of caring.
'The NHS Counter Fraud Service takes all allegations of fraud seriously and, where appropriate, will work in partnership with the UK Border Agency to seek the strongest possible criminal sanctions. We hope this sentence acts as a warning to others not to abuse the bursary system'
The UK Border Agency will look to remove Ogunfuwa from the country upon completion of her sentence.