A United Kingdom-based Nigerian doctor, identified as Dr. Alaneme has been caught in an undercover BBC investigation allegedly selling job placements to foreign workers, despite being legally free.
Dr. Alaneme, who runs CareerEdu, a company that claims to be a “launchpad for global opportunities catering to young Africans” was secretly recorded while offering to pay the undercover journalist £2,000 ($2,600) for each care home vacancy she could procure.
He also promised an additional £500 ($650) commission, suggesting that she could make a fortune by recruiting care homes.
“Just get me care homes. I can make you a millionaire,” he was quoted as saying.
The investigation revealed that Alaneme planned to sell these care home vacancies to candidates in Nigeria, even though such job placements were legally supposed to be free.
“They (the candidates) are not supposed to be paying because it’s free. It should be free,” he admitted in a hushed conversation. “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, recounted how he paid over £10,000 ($13,000) to Dr. Alaneme for a job in the UK.
“I was told I was going to be working with a care company called Efficiency for Care, based in Clacton-on-Sea,” Praise said.
However, upon arrival, he discovered that the job did not exist.
“If I had known there was no job, I would not have come here,” he lamented. “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.”
Praise said he repeatedly messaged Efficiency for Care and Dr. Alaneme for months, asking when he could start work. Despite assurances, the job never materialised.
The BBC investigation found inconsistencies in Efficiency for Care’s employment records.
“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 (CoS) to foreign workers between March 2022 and May 2023,” the report stated.
In a secretly recorded meeting, Dr. Alaneme explained how migrants could obtain sponsorship documents for non-existent jobs, allowing them to relocate anywhere in the UK.
“The advantage of having a CoS that is unconnected to a job is that you can choose any city you want. You can go to Glasgow. You can stay in London. You can live anywhere,” he claimed.
However, the BBC debunked this claim, clarifying that migrants on a Health and Care Work visa must work in their assigned roles or risk visa cancellation and deportation.
Dr. Alaneme also detailed how a fabricated payroll system could be used to create a money trail and conceal the fake jobs.
“That a money trail is what the government needs to see,” he stated.
In response to the allegations, Dr. Alaneme “strenuously denied” that CareerEdu was involved in a scam, insisting that his company was not a recruitment agency and did not charge for jobs.
He claimed the money Praise paid was forwarded to a recruitment agent for transportation, accommodation, and training expenses.
“I have never scammed or defrauded anyone in my life. And I never will,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“We are not care job employers in the UK. Our job is to link qualified employees to legitimate and licensed employers and recruiters who do provide Certificates of Sponsorship.”
He maintained that CareerEdu had always been transparent about the fact that CoS should be free. However, he admitted that some recruiters and employers charge additional costs, covering “training, transportation, and even accommodation.”
According to him, in cases where candidates were unsuccessful, they were fully refunded these extra costs “with no questions asked.”
Alaneme also claimed that over 98% of CareerEdu’s clients had successfully settled into employment in the UK. However, he acknowledged that some employers “overstated their needs or recruited more persons than they had shifts for.”
Regarding Praise’s claims, he insisted, “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 also referenced a past engagement with a company called Borderless, which had promised access to employers at a significantly reduced cost.
“The said company said they will take £2k, which should cover training and transportation costs. It sounded too good to be true compared to what was obtainable, which explained why I was enthusiastic about it,” he explained.
This case echoes a similar scandal in 2024, where four Nigerians were sentenced to prison for running a large-scale immigration scam involving over 2,000 forged marriage certificates. The fraudulent documents allowed Nigerian nationals to illegally remain in the UK.
The convicted individuals included Abraham Alade Olarotimi Onifade (41), Abayomi Aderinsoye Shodipo (38), Nosimot Mojisola Gbadamosi (31), and Adekunle Kabir (54).
They were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court in London on August 27, 2024.
