I never defrauded anybody – Alaneme

By Saheed Ibrahim

A recent BBC investigative report has exposed a Nigerian doctor, Dr Kelvin Alaneme, for allegedly scamming foreign nationals applying to work in the UK care sector.

The investigation follows multiple reports, including one by The Hope newspaper, detailing Nigerians’ struggles in the UK to secure jobs with Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS).

The UK system requires job seekers to obtain a CoS from a licensed UK employer, a process exploited by fraudulent relocation agents.

Reports indicate that foreign nationals desperate to obtain jobs with CoS pay significant sums to agents, sometimes without securing employment.

The Hope earlier reported that some Nigerians protested at the Home Office in London against fellow Nigerians exploiting others through fraudulent job schemes.

The BBC World Service investigation used secret filming to expose how rogue agents scam migrants.

According to the BBC, the rogue agents’ tactics include illegally selling jobs in UK care companies, setting up fake payroll schemes to disguise non-existent jobs, and shifting into other sectors like construction facing labour shortages.

Dr Alaneme, the founder of CareerEdu, a relocation agency in Harlow, Essex, was one of the individuals exposed.

BBC undercover report found that he was actively recruiting agents to help him sell job vacancies illegally.

Posing as a business partner, a BBC journalist gained unprecedented insight into Alaneme’s operations.

He offered her a commission of £500 per candidate and £2,000 per care home vacancy she secured, which he would then sell to job seekers in Nigeria.

Charging candidates for job placements is illegal in the UK, but Alaneme admitted that it was their “only way.”

The BBC started investigating Alaneme after receiving online complaints about his agency.

One complainant, Praise, a Nigerian man in his 30s, paid more than £10,000 for a care job in Clacton-on-Sea, only to find upon arrival that the job did not exist.

Despite months of follow-ups, the job never materialised, forcing him to find another employer almost a year later.

Investigators discovered that Efficiency for Care, the company Alaneme claimed to work with, issued 1,234 CoS documents between March 2022 and May 2023 but only had an average of 16 employees in 2022 and 152 in 2023.

The Home Office revoked its sponsorship licence in July 2023, but the company continues to operate, denying involvement in fraudulent activities.

In another secretly filmed meeting, Alaneme detailed an advanced scam involving fake payroll systems to create the illusion that candidates were employed.

He claimed that possessing an unlinked CoS would allow migrants to live anywhere in the UK, a false assertion since failing to work in the assigned role could result in visa cancellation and deportation.

Alaneme denied the allegations, claiming CareerEdu was not a recruitment agency and did not provide jobs for cash.

He asserted that the money Praise paid was used for transport, accommodation, and training, and that he had offered to help him find another employer for free.

The BBC also exposed another UK-based recruitment agent, Nana Akwasi Agyemang-Prempeh, accused of scamming migrants by selling fake CoS documents.

On his X (Twiiter) account, Alaneme claimed he had never scammed anybody.

“When the BBC asked for my right of reply, I detailed every single thing that transpired, with evidence. My lawyers have been in touch and will advise on how we address this highly defamatory and misleading publication.

“For Praise, we presented evidence that every single dime he paid to us was transferred to the recruiter. He knows this, yet he is bent on tarnishing our hard-earned reputation. We will address this legally,” he wrote.