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Christopher Aghalibe
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This is Serious
Christopher Aghalibe, a 53-year-old Nigerian bus driver
forged a British passport so he could live in a council house for more than a
decade, a court heard.
According to Daily
Mail UK, Christopher Aghalibe, 53, allegedly submitted the document
along with his application for housing to the London Borough of Barking and
Dagenham in September 2000.
The bus driver allegedly used a British passport in the name
of Kehinde Osula when he was given a tenancy in 2004, Snaresbrook Crown Court
heard.
Fraud prevention unit officers finally attended his home in
Wood Lane, Dagenham, on 10 August 2016, and he invited them in for a cup of
tea.
Aghalibe claimed he came to London in 1990 but he often
returned to his homeland to visit his sick father before his death, jurors
heard.
When he was asked to attend an interview at the council
offices later that day he arrived with a copy of the passport in the name of
Onsula, it was claimed.
‘The way
that the prosecution put the case is that, very simply, he knew he was not a
British national and that he was telling a lie otherwise he would not be
entitled to a council property,’ said prosecutor Nick Ham.
‘He had
hoped he could dig himself out of a hole by going to the council office with
the forged passport.'
Jurors were shown a copy of the falsified passport and the
housing application form.
Describing the visit by anti-fraud officers to his home the
prosecutor continued: ‘This was the day Mr Aghalibe had been asked to come
into the council offices and answer questions.
‘The
officers went to the property in the morning and and they asked him to provide
identification.
‘He was
not able to provide a British passport, instead he handed over a Nigerian one.
‘He was
asked briefly to explain the discrepancy and he could not.’
Mr Ham added: ‘He then came to
the interview and handed over a British passport.
‘The
prosecution say that he was trying to fool the London Borough of Barking and
Dagenham.’
Aghalibe, of Wood Lane, Dagenham, denies one count of false
accounting, one count of using a false instrument, one count of obtaining
services by deception and one count of possession of a false identity document
with improper intention.
The trial continues.
Source: pmnewsnigeria
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