A Nigerian woman who used her friend’s identity to get free NHS treatment for her and her baby has been charged with fraud, after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation.
Oluwaseun Adenubi (30) used her friend’s passport to obtain free treatment after giving birth to her son Moses, who she was also allegedly trying to get British citizenship. Doctors at the Princess Royal University Hospital in Farnborough soon became suspicious after they discovered that Rita Ogunkunle, whose passport Adunubi commandeered had sever scarring following acne treatment something Adenubi did not have. Further investigation found that the ‘patient’ had two different blood types, which further raised the hospital staff’s suspicions.
“Maybe there was a motivation to secure the nationality of the child as a British citizen and free NHS treatment,” prosecutor Alexandra Bushell stated. “After the baby was born in June staff realised something was not right because Ogunkunle has severe scarring, which the baby’s mother did not have, and there were two different blood types for the same patient.”
Ogunkunle and her boyfriend then registered Adenubi’s baby, Moses, as theirs.
They both pleaded guilty to wilfully providing false information, after it was discovered that the baby was not theirs.
She claimed she registered the baby after discovering that Adenubi, who she is no longer speaking to, had stolen her passport, as she ‘didn’t want anyone nelse using her identity’.
“She admitted falsely registering the birth of the baby and said she had been introduced to Adenubi by a friend of her mother’s and took pity on her because she was pregnant and had no friends,” added the prosecutor. “She told police she was angry at Adenubi using her identity and tried to beat her to it by registering the child.”
“[Adebambo] said his girlfriend asked him to go to the register office to register a birth and said she told him she did not want another woman to use her identity.
“He said he did it out of love for his girlfriend and was very remorseful.”
Adenubi, who came to the UK on a 6 month family visa, claims that she found Ogunkunle’s passport on a park bench. She left Nigeria allegedly fleeing a violent partner and has said she has no family or friends in the UK and is not in touch with her family in Nigeria.
