Nigerian Doctor busted in fraudulent Japa scheme, victims stranded in UK

Many unsuspecting Nigerians dream of relocating to the UK for a better life, but fraudulent agents exploiting the UK’s Health & Care Worker visa scheme have turned this dream into a nightmare.

In an undercover investigation, BBC Africa Eye exposed Dr Kelvin Alaneme, a Nigerian doctor and founder of CareerEdu, who has been running a fraudulent operation, charging desperate job seekers exorbitant fees for non-existent jobs in the UK care sector.

Secret recordings by the BBC captured Dr. Alaneme boasting about his operation. Believing he was speaking to a potential business partner in the UK care industry, he offered her a role in his network, saying: “Just get me care homes. I can make you a millionaire.”

He said each job vacancy secured from a UK care home was worth £2,000 ($2,600), with an additional £500 ($650) commission. These job slots were then sold to unsuspecting Nigerian job seekers, many of whom ended up stranded in the UK with no work and no means of survival.

Under UK law, charging candidates for jobs is illegal. Yet, Dr. Alaneme openly admitted that desperate job seekers had no other option.

“They [the candidates] are not supposed to be paying because it’s free. It should be free,” he acknowledged. But he justified the scam, adding: “They are paying because they know it’s most likely the only way.”

One victim, Praise, narrated his account of the ordeal. He paid over £10,000 ($13,000) to Dr Alaneme, believing he had secured a job at a care company called Efficiency for Care in Clacton-on-Sea. However, upon arrival, he discovered that the job was a lie.

“If I had known there was no job, I would not have come here. I came here to do a job,” he lamented, revealing that he was left on the verge of homelessness.

Investigations revealed that Efficiency for Care had a shocking employment record. While it officially had 16 employees in 2022 and 152 in 2023, Home Office documents showed that it had issued a staggering 1,234 Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) to foreign workers between March 2022 and May 2023.

In July 2023, the UK government revoked the company’s sponsorship licence, effectively banning it from recruiting foreign workers.

However, the company continues to operate and denies any involvement in fraudulent recruitment.

Dr. Alaneme also described another scheme, where fake payroll records were created to give the illusion that migrants had legitimate jobs, allowing them to remain in the UK illegally.

The BBC confronted him with the findings, but he denied running a scam. He insisted that CareerEdu only offered “legitimate services” and that the money paid by victims, such as Praise, was handed over to a recruitment agent for transportation, accommodation, and training.

He even claimed he had tried to help Praise secure another job for free.

The BBC also uncovered another scam run by UK-based recruiter Nana Akwasi Agyemang-Prempeh. Victims across the UK claimed Agyemang-Prempeh defrauded them of nearly £67,000, promising them care worker jobs that never existed.

Some of the Certificates of Sponsorship he issued were outright fakes, replicas of legitimate Certificates of Sponsorship documents from genuine care companies.

Confronted with these allegations, Agyemang-Prempeh feigned innocence, claiming he too had been “scammed” and had unknowingly distributed fake certificates.

“I am not authorised to issue Certificates of Sponsorship,” he told BBC reporters.

Matthew Bond, CEO of Borderless, a tech company specialising in immigration compliance, shed light on why the scam thrives.

“A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is issued by a business that says, ‘I’m going to sponsor this individual.’ Without that, you can’t get a visa or travel to the UK for work,” he explained.

“Because so many people want these jobs, rogue agents have taken advantage of the system, charging candidates tens of thousands of pounds for these certificates.”

Another victim, Harry (not his real name), shared his heart-wrenching experience. He lost nearly £9,500 (17 to 18 million Naira) to these scams.

“I sold my properties, resigned from my job, took out loans from family and friends – all to move to the UK. Now, I have nothing,” he said, his voice heavy with regret.

“These scammers keep getting rich, using people’s sweat—people that have laboured. Many of us travel with not just our dreams, but the dreams and hopes of our families. Now, everything is gone.”

The UK Home Office, responding to BBC’s investigation, vowed to crack down on fraudulent recruitment practices.

“The government has announced robust new action against shameless employers who abuse the visa system, with tough measures that will ban businesses who flout UK employment laws from sponsoring overseas workers,” a spokesperson said.

While the UK government is stepping up enforcement, thousands of victims are still struggling with the financial and emotional wreckage caused by these fraudulent schemes.

This investigation was conducted by Africa Eye and the BBC’s Global Disinformation Unit.