Owoeye, 49, who is Nigerian, is thought to be the first person in London to be convicted of fraud after receiving payments while under ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) immigration status.
She pocketed more than £114,000 over five years.
Nice 'work' if you can get it!
She was found guilty of three charges of fraud following a four-day trial at Woolwich Crown Court last month.
She was subsequently jailed for two years by Judge Jonathan Mann QC, who told her: ‘There is only one reason you did what you did and this is because you are greedy. For you this was money for nothing.’
And she'd
still be doing it, with no one in authority any the wiser, if she hadn't annoyed her tenant, who dobbed her in:
The court heard that Owoeye first came to the UK from Nigeria in 2002. She then made a fraudulent mortgage application, claiming she was working in the software industry and earning £41,000 a year.
This allowed her to buy a home in Erith, south-east London, for £156,000 in June 2008.
She moved out four years later and lived with a friend. In 2013 she approached Bexley Council for support, claiming to be homeless.
She told staff that she had been evicted by a landlord, and was re-housed in Dartford and then Crayford.
But her lies were uncovered in January last year when the tenant at her Erith home approached the council to make a complaint.
So...will the State now act?
While Owoeye is in jail, officials will investigate her right to remain in the UK on her release.
Take your time, fellas, it's not like there's any more out there, eh?
Perhaps she's the one with all that money she defrauded from the Nigerian Government. All you need to do is give your bank details and she'll hide the money with you ...
ReplyDeleteOh bloody hell. Do things like this really happen?
ReplyDeleteIt bewilders me how this happens. Of course, I know there is benefit fraud, but I know of several cases personally where people who would seem to be very obviously eligible for assistance have been given the run around if not outright denied. Just one case: I know of one man with a long-term very serious condition. He is debilitated not only by the illness itself, but also by the essential life-long treatment of drugs with very unpleasant side-effects. He went through the infamous ATOS assessment, was awarded zero points and effectively told he should make himself available for absolutely any type of work, so his ESA was withdrawn and he immediately became liable for council tax, housing costs, etc, which rapidly exhausted his savings. He then tried to apply for Job Seekers' Allowance but was rejected on the grounds that his very obvious health problems mean that they refuse to regard him as available for work. This is insane. With no income he had to give up his flat. Made destitute, he has spent the past five years sofa surfing and relying on the kindness of friends while his health declines further. He is now invisible officially and so hasn't been able to register to vote and is ineligible for free prescriptions or dental treatment.
ReplyDeleteYet people who shouldn't even be on the same continent as us, let alone in the same country, seem to have little difficulty in milking us dry. How on earth is this allowed to happen? (Obviously a rhetorical question.) The fact that all the victims of bureaucracy I know are British-born and shamelessly melanin-deficient is purely coincidental, I'm sure.
Happy Kwanzaa to all.
. . and what's the probability that Owoeye will remain in the UK after her release from prison? 99% (maybe a bit more)?. She won't be going back to Lagos (except on holiday).
ReplyDelete"Perhaps she's the one with all that money she defrauded from the Nigerian Government."
ReplyDeleteLOL!
"Oh bloody hell. Do things like this really happen?"
More than ever make the papers, I suspect...
"How on earth is this allowed to happen? (Obviously a rhetorical question.)"
I think you've hit the nail on the head, actually. I know I've had my suspicions.
". . and what's the probability that Owoeye will remain in the UK after her release from prison? 99%..."
As low as that..?