Nigerian doctor based in United Kingdom (UK), Dr Kelvin Alaneme, was secretly filmed by the British Broadcasting Corporation in an undercover investigation, allegedly selling fake job opportunities to foreign nationals.
BBC documentary described Dr Alaneme as a psychiatrist who had worked for the National Health Service, is the founder of CareerEdu, an agency based in Harlow, Essex.
The BBC stated that it launched its undercover investigation following a series of online complaints about his relocation services.
According to Punch, selling jobs in the UK is illegal.
BBC reports that CareerEdu describes itself as a “launchpad for global opportunities catering to young Africans” and claims to have 9,800 “happy clients.”
The investigation revealed that Dr Alaneme who attempted to recruit the BBC journalist, believing she had strong connections in the UK care sector, offered the undercover reporter a role as an agent for his business, promising she could make a fortune by securing care home vacancies.
“Just get me care homes. I can make you a millionaire,” he was quoted as saying.
The BBC report stated, “As a potential business partner, our journalist was then given unprecedented insight into how immigration scams by agents like Dr Alaneme actually work.
“Dr Alaneme said he would pay £2,000 ($2,600) for each care home vacancy she was able to procure and offered £500 ($650) commission on top.”
Alaneme allegedly planned to sell the vacancies to candidates in Nigeria.
“They [the candidates] are not supposed to be paying because it’s free. It should be free,” he said in hushed tones. “They are paying because they know it’s most likely the only way.”
One of the victims, a Nigerian man in his mid-30s known as Praise, claimed he paid Dr Alaneme over £10,000 ($13,000) for a job in the UK, but upon arrival, he discovered the job did not exist.
Praise recounted: “I was told I was going to be working with a care company called Efficiency for Care, based in Clacton-on-Sea.
“If I had known there was no job, I would not have come here,” he said. “At least, back home in Nigeria, if you go broke, I can find my sister or my parents and go and eat free food. It’s not the same here. You will go hungry.
“I repeatedly messaged Efficiency for Care and Dr Alaneme for months, asking when I could start work.
“Despite assurances from Dr Alaneme, the job never materialised.”
The BBC investigation report revealed: “Efficiency for Care employed, on average, 16 people in 2022 and 152 in 2023.
“Yet, a letter from the Home Office to the company, dated May 2023 and seen by the BBC, showed it had issued 1,234 Certificates of Sponsorship to foreign workers between March 2022 and May 2023.”
In another secretly recorded meeting, Dr Alaneme detailed an even more sophisticated scam involving sponsorship documents for nonexistent jobs.
“The advantage of having a CoS that is unconnected to a job,” he said, “is that you can choose any city you want,” he added.
“You can go to Glasgow. You can stay in London. You can live anywhere,” he explained.
The BBC report however debunked this claim, stating, “This is not true. If a migrant arrives in the UK on a Health and Care Work visa and does not work in the role they have been assigned, their visa could be cancelled, and they risk being deported.”
In response to the allegations, Dr Alaneme “strenuously denied” that CareerEdu was involved in a scam, insisting that it was neither a recruitment agency nor a service that provided jobs for cash.
The doctor also explained how to fabricate a payroll system to conceal the fact that the jobs were fake.
He claimed that the money paid by Praise was forwarded to a recruitment agent for transportation, accommodation, and training expenses.
“He said he offered to help Praise find another employer free of charge,” the BBC report concluded.
In a post on his X.com handle on Monday, he reaffirmed his stance, stating, “I have never scammed or defrauded anyone in my life. And I never will.
“We are not Care Job employers in the UK. Our job is to link qualified employees to legitimate and licenced employers and recruiters who do provide Certificate of Sponsorship.”
“We have always made it clear that Certificate of Sponsorship is free. That said, some recruiters and employers charge extra costs. These costs can cover training, transportation, and even accommodation and vary from employer to employer.”
A similar report in 2024 detailed how four Nigerians were sentenced to prison for their involvement in a large-scale immigration scam involving the forgery of over 2,000 marriage certificates.
The fraudulent documents were used to enable Nigerian nationals to reside illegally in the UK.
Reportedly convicted individuals include Abraham Alade Olarotimi Onifade (41), Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo (38), Nosimot Mojisola Gbadamosi (31), and Adekunle Kabir (54), who were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court in London on Tuesday, August 27.