A Nigerian immigrant mother who bribed a male NHS nurse to pose as her baby daughter’s father so that her child could get British passport faces deportation.
Housewife Maria Adesanya, 31, paid £3,000 to UK citizen 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.
The pair hatched the plan in January 2014, three months after pregnant Adesanya entered the UK on an eight-month visitors VISA. They were only caught in February 2015 after the mother applied for a Derivative Authority Card.
During this time the mother found work using the ID cards of two EU nationals, a Portuguese and a Dutch citizen.
The child, now aged five, is thought to still be living in the UK.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Adesanya, from Bury, was sentenced to 14 months in jail but immediately released on licence as she had been under curfew since October.
She was found guilty of false representation and possessing false ID documents.
Adeparusi, from Gavesend in Kent, was jailed for 33 months after admitting making a false statement with intent.
Sentencing Adesanya, Judge John Edwards said: ‘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.’
When sentencing Adeparusi, the judge said: ‘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.’
After arriving in the UK in October 2013 and giving birth, prosecutor Robert Golinski said that Adesanya made contact with Adeparusi via another person who, for a fee, agreed to pretend to be the father.
‘It is not clear how much he was to be paid but there are references to £3000, evidence of a payment being made by her to him at the end of January 2014 after the child was born,’ he said.
‘On 14th January 2014 they both attended Rochdale Registrar office to register the birth and in doing so fully confirmed that he was the father.
‘The birth certificate itself contained a false statement that was used by him to make an application for a British passport for the child.
‘On the 6th March 2014 the passport office issued a passport in the child’s name and on the 31st July 2014 Mr Adeparusi contacted the authorities and claimed tax credits he wasn’t entitled to because he wasn’t responsible for the little girl.’
‘He continued to receive those credits at £7.54 per day until July 2017 – a period of under three years – the total being just under £11,000 in tax credits. He in fact continued to claim them even after he had been told in interview he wasn’t entitled to do so.
‘Ms Adesanya submitted application to the home office for a Derivative Authority Card as a primary carer for a British citizen and in doing so submitted the fraudulently obtained passport. That application was refused in February 2015 – she appealed and the appeal was dismissed.
‘She was unable to open a bank account in this country between July 2013 and December 2014 but she used one of Mr Adeparusi’s bank accounts to receive over £2000 in wages. During her period in the UK Ms Adesanya appears to have had no real means to support herself and sought to obtain employment.
‘She wasn’t entitled to work in the UK and so she assumed the identity of two EU citizens, a Dutch national, and also a Portuguese national.
‘She also obtained a false Portuguese ID card.’
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