He was ‘living a lie’ but tricked his way into working with the elderly and vulnerable
By Mark Naylor
An illegal immigrant from Nigeria brazenly used a fake Spanish passport with another man’s photograph on it to fool two different agencies into giving him 1,280 hours of work as a care assistant. They didn’t even notice it was the wrong picture.
Etiosa Omokaro was “living a lie” but managed to trick his way into getting the jobs working with elderly and vulnerable people. Nobody spotted that another man’s name and photograph were on the false passport.
His applications to stay in this country had been repeatedly refused but he dodged the authorities and “no one seemed to notice” that he was even here despite the fact that he had “no right to live or work in the UK”, Hull Crown Court heard. Omokaro, 52, of Lambert Street, Hull, admitted possessing a false passport and two offences of fraud by using it to gain employment.
Richard Butters, prosecuting, said that Omokaro was a Nigerian national but he used a Spanish passport in the name of another man, and with the other person’s photograph on it, to gain work in the care industry, looking after elderly and vulnerable people. “He did, ironically, do a good job in the end and there was no complaint about the quality of what he did,” said Mr Butters. “He has no leave to remain in the United Kingdom and he had no right, and still has no right, to work in the United Kingdom.”
Omokaro presented the passport, with false details on it, to obtain work with an agency on December 17, 2020 to provide care for the elderly and vulnerable. “The defendant completed all the mandatory training and tests and began working as a care assistant,” said Mr Butters.
Omokaro did about 345 hours of work. He “did precisely the same” between February 7 and 28 last year to gain work for a different agency, helping the elderly and vulnerable, and did 933 hours. Steven Garth, mitigating, said that Omokaro originally came to this country as a visitor, with a legitimate visa, but did not apply to extend it or request another one when it expired.
“He came to the UK in February 2012 and he has been here ever since,” said Mr Garth. “Quite simply, he kept living in the UK and no one seemed to notice. Six years later, in 2018, the defendant’s position came to the knowledge of the authorities and the Home Office suddenly became aware of his position.”
The police became involved and papers were served on him as an “over-stayer” and he was assisted to make a “full and proper application” in late 2018 to stay. He was put into asylum accommodation in Hull but, in April 2019, his application failed.
“There were a number of appeals but they failed also,” said Mr Garth. “They left him at that stage with no right to live or work in the UK. It was some months after those failed appeals that the defendant’s fraud began.
“He came into the possession of the Spanish passport. He says simply that someone gave it to him. He decided to use the passport to his advantage. The defendant’s only motivation was to obtain work and earn a living in this country.
“He didn’t carry out his fraud for any sinister reason. He worked hard in a job where, to his credit, he was assisting the elderly and vulnerable and doing a good job.”
Omokaro was working for low pay and was paying his tax and National Insurance. “The defendant was living a lie and his deception was sooner or later going to be discovered…
