A UK-based Nigerian doctor, Dr. Kelvin Alaneme, has been accused of allegedly selling fake job opportunities to foreign nationals, following an undercover investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Alaneme, a psychiatrist and founder of CareerEdu, an agency based in Harlow, Essex, was secretly filmed in the BBC exposé, which was prompted by numerous online complaints about his relocation services.
CareerEdu describes itself as a “launchpad for global opportunities catering to young Africans” and claims to have 9,800 “happy clients.”
However, the BBC investigation suggests otherwise, alleging that Alaneme attempted to recruit a journalist posing as an undercover reporter into his business of securing care home vacancies for a fee.
“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 these vacancies to Nigerian candidates, despite acknowledging that such placements should be free.
“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.”
A Nigerian man identified as Praise claimed he paid Alaneme over £10,000 ($13,000) for a UK care job that never existed.
“I was told I was going to be working with a care company called Efficiency for Care, based in Clacton-on-Sea,” he said.
However, upon arrival, he discovered there was no job.
“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.”
Despite months of inquiries, the promised job never materialized, with both Efficiency for Care and Alaneme allegedly failing to provide answers.
The BBC investigation uncovered irregularities in Efficiency for Care’s employment records.
The 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 conversation, Alaneme allegedly detailed a scheme to issue sponsorship documents for jobs that did not exist.
“The advantage of having a CoS that is unconnected to a job,” he said, “is that you can choose any city you want.”
“You can go to Glasgow. You can stay in London. You can live anywhere,” he explained.
However, the BBC report 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.”
Alaneme also allegedly explained how to manipulate payroll systems to make fake jobs appear legitimate.
“That [a money trail] is what the government needs to see,” he reportedly said.
In response to the allegations, Alaneme denied any involvement in fraudulent activities, insisting that CareerEdu was neither a recruitment agency nor an organisation that sold jobs.
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.
On Monday, Alaneme took to social media platform X.com to further defend himself.
“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.”
He added, “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.”
He also stated that unsuccessful clients were refunded in full, with no questions asked.
Alaneme further insisted that CareerEdu’s role ended once candidates successfully arrived in the UK and were handed over to their employers.
“Every COS issued by employers to our clients was legitimate, and they all relocated successfully,” he said, maintaining that over 98% of CareerEdu’s clients had settled into jobs in the UK.
