Four Nigerian nationals have been sentenced in London for forging more than 2,000 marriage documents to support settlement applications that allowed people to stay in the UK illegally.
The organised crime group members were jailed for a total of 13 years, Woolwich Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
According to the Home Office, Abraham Alade Olarotimi Onifade, 41, Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo, 38, Nosimot Mojisola Gbadamosi, 31, and Adekunle Kabir, 54, made sham EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) applications for Nigerian nationals between March 2019 and May last year.
The scheme was introduced in 2019 in response to Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and was available for EU and European Free Trade Association nationals. Successful applicants receive either “pre-settled status” or “settled status” that would allow them to stay in the UK after Brexit.
An investigation by the Home Office uncovered the gang’s illegal activities, with operations based both in Britain and in Lagos, Nigeria. The four men produced more than 2,000 false Nigerian Customary Marriage Certificates and other fraudulent documents to support settlement scheme applications.
Onifade and Shodipo were both found guilty of conspiracy to facilitate illegal entry in the UK and conspiracy to provide articles used in fraud.
Onifade, from Gravesend in northwest Kent, was jailed for six years. Shodipo, from Manchester, was jailed for five years.
The other two members of the organised crime group, Gbadamosi and Kabir, were sentenced to 18 months’ and nine months of imprisonment respectively.
Gbadamosi, from Bolton in Greater Manchester, was convicted of obtaining leave to remain by deception and fraud by false representation.
London resident Kabir was found guilty of possession of an identity document with improper intention. He was cleared of obtaining leave to remain by deception.
Commenting on the case, Home Office Chief Immigration Officer Paul Moran said in a statement that the gang was “absolutely prolific in their desire to abuse” UK borders. The four men “have rightly been brought to justice,” he added.
“As with many gangs we encounter, their sole priority was financial gain. I am delighted that my team was able to intercept their operation, and I hope these convictions will serve as a warning to unscrupulous gangs who exploit people’s desperation to remain in the UK.
Immigration Rules
For those resident in the UK by the end of the Brexit transition period on Dec. 31, 2020, the deadline for an EUSS application was June 30, 2021.The former Conservative government laid new immigration rules in July last year. Under the changes, people with pre-settled status were to automatically get a two-year extension before their status expired if they had not obtained settled status.
Changes also included the way reasonable grounds for late applications are considered. The government shut down two temporary transitional routes—the Surinder Singh and Zambrano routes—both of which fall outside the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement commitments.
“Changes to the application process implemented in summer 2023 have helped to ensure the ongoing integrity of the EUSS, further protecting it against fraud and abuse,” the Home Office said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.
This year, officials operated automated checks of pre-settled status to establish the applicants’ ongoing continuous residence in the UK.
“Safeguards will be in place to ensure that settled status is not wrongly granted,” said the Home Office.
Last week, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced new measures to boost Britain’s border security. These include the immediate recruitment of up to 100 new specialist intelligence and investigation officers at the National Crime Agency to target, dismantle, and disrupt organised immigration crime networks.
