Nigerian Illegal in £114,000 Benefit Fraud

From The Croydon Guardian:

A failed asylum seeker who fraudulently claimed more than £114,000 has been jailed.

Adesuwa Ojo-Osagie, also known as Queen Hanson, 42, of Parchmore Road, Thornton Heath was sentenced to eight months in prison at Croydon Crown Court on Friday.

She pleaded guilty to using a false identity to work illegally and to dishonestly claim benefits to which she was not entitled.

She used different identities to gain entry into the UK and claim benefits.

The fraud came to light following a data-matching exercise in 2006 by anti-fraud officers who discovered that Queen Hanson had been claiming housing and council tax benefit since 2003 but had failed to declare savings of more than £130,000 in 18 bank accounts.

Hanson also failed to declare that she was married, and that her husband, Ekhator Ojo-Osagie, was working full time for Royal Mail.

She is a failed asylum seeker, giving her no recourse to public funds or the right to work in the UK.

The UK Border Agency and the council found that she was also using a second identity, as Nigerian national Adesuwa Ojo-Osagie.

She had been trying to gain entry to the UK with two children as the dependant partner of Ekhator Ojo-Osagie, who was already in the UK on a skilled migrant workers’ permit.

Hanson and her husband were arrested in June and a search of their property found evidence that she had been using two identities and that she had made claims for housing, council tax benefit, income support, child tax credit, working tax credit and child benefit.

She had also been working with Sainsbury’s since 2003 despite having no right to work in the UK.

In total, Hanson received £114,941.67 in false benefit claims and fraudulent earnings.

Handing Hanson a custodial sentence, Judge Ruth Downing said it was an utterly cynical, sustained and relentless fraudulent act from day one based on complete avarice.

She said she was finding it hard to see signs of remorse and acceptance of guilt in the defendant.

Councillor Sara Bashford, cabinet member for resources and customer services, said: “We are delighted at the outcome of this long and complex investigation and are grateful to our partner agencies for helping us to put a stop to the fraudulent activities of this woman.

“We are determined to stamp out fraud, and I hope this case acts as a warning to others.”

I would suggest a ban on all migration from countries notorious for their fraudsters, but obviously my solution is not as effective as letting her live here, steal and spend well over £100,000, then jailing her at taxpayers' expense.

Must be a great warning to others - come to Britain and get more than someone on minimum wage could earn in eight years before you get caught.