Four gang members have been jailed for a total of 13 years after forging more than 2,000 marriage certificates that allowed people to live in the UK illegally. Abraham Alade Olarotimi Onifade, 41, Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo, 38, Nosimot Mojisola Gbadamosi, 31, and Adekunle Kabir, 54, made fraudulent EU Settlement Scheme applications for Nigerian nationals between March 2019 and May last year, the Home Office said. The organised crime group, who were all themselves Nigerian, provided false Nigerian Customary Marriage Certificates and other fraudulent documentation to support the applications of the nationals to help them remain in the country.
A Home Office investigation both domestically and with its international operations based in Lagos, Nigeria uncovered more than 2,000 false marriage documents. Onifade Onifade and Shodipo were both found guilty of conspiracy to facilitate illegal entry in the UK and conspiracy to provide articles used in fraud following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, the Home Office said. Shodipo Gbadamosi was convicted of obtaining leave to remain by deception and fraud by false representation, while Kabir was found guilty of possession of an identity document with improper intention but was cleared of obtaining leave to remain by deception.
Onifade, from Gravesend, was sentenced to six years imprisonment and Shodipo, from Manchester, was jailed for five years at the same court on Tuesday. Gbadamosi Gbadamosi, from Bolton , was sentenced to 18 months�.