This really was a performance of incredible stupidity by you. You have a child out of wedlock which is frowned on by your culture and feared what would happen to you and your child if you returned to Nigeria.
‘The effect to them of their mother serving a period in prison would be shattering. You have spent 10 months worrying about your future and your children’s future. Being separated from the children would have a significant detrimental effect on their emotional wellbeing. But you displayed a blatant disregard for the immigration laws in this country. What you did was disgraceful and dishonest.’
‘Organised immigration crime such as that which you engaged in can have and does have a significant impact on public funds and confidence, and the abuse of documents and the lawful exercise of the right to enter this country goes to the heart of the system which all of us rely on.
‘When you came to this country in March 2007 and settled down with your family in Kent, qualifying as a nurse, I’m satisfied you intended to lead a constructive and contributing life. But that all ended when you met Ms Adesanya. You lied face to face to the registrar and the passport office and it didn’t end there. This was a highly devised and lucrative scheme, these are charges which completely undermine the integrity of the immigration system and garnered you a significant amount of money.’
These are the moving words of Justice John EdwardsM when sentencing two Nigerians who connived to defraud the UK immigration system.
Maria Adesanya, an immigrant and mother of a five year-old girl, bribed a Nigerian nurse, Adekunle Adeparusi, to pose as her baby-daddy so that her child could get British passport.
According to reports, 31-year old Adesanya paid £3,000 to UK citizen and Nigerian-born Adekunle Adeparusi, 44, to put his name down as the father on the child’s birth certificate. Adeparusi then pocketed a further £13,000 that he claimed in child tax credits even though he had no role in the daughter’s life.
