Nigerian drug smuggler works in NZ as psychiatrist

[genghis61]

Drug dealer fakes CV to land doctor's job

5:30 AM Thursday Sep 30, 2010

A Nigerian drug smuggler who fooled immigration officials to get a job as a hospital psychiatrist was yesterday jailed for 16 months.

Chidozie Emmanuel Onovo, 40, did not reveal he had a criminal history - he was imprisoned in 1999 for two years for importing 4.5kg of cannabis into Britain - when he applied in December 2008 for a New Zealand visa.

After arriving here in January last year, Onovo got a work permit and was employed as a psychiatrist by the Canterbury District Health Board.

The board said no concerns were raised about his competence or treatment of patients.

It was not until August this year - after Onovo applied for residency with an application denying any past offending - that he was found out.

Immigration checks revealed he was a convicted drug smuggler, and that at the time he claimed to have been working in the medical field in Nigeria, he was serving his prison sentence in Britain.

When confronted, Onovo admitted his deception. Yesterday, he was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court to 16 months in jail on three immigration fraud charges.

Defence lawyer Errol Parsons had asked that Onovo be fined, saying his client wanted to leave New Zealand as soon as possible "for family reasons".

But Judge Gary McAskill said Onovo's crime challenged the integrity of the immigration system and required a sentence that would deter others from trying to dupe authorities.

In support of his residency application, Onovo supplied forged letters from hospitals in Nigeria, and the judge said qualifications Onovo claimed to possess were "doubtful".

Department of Labour prosecutor Shona Carr said it was a classic example of a crime difficult to detect when a person's declarations were taken on face value.

Immigration New Zealand said the integrity of its system was paramount.

"[Onovo] presented a job offer and seemingly credible documents, including references from Nigerian hospitals which, it turned out, were forged to cover for time when he was in jail in Britain for drug smuggling," said Immigration NZ head Nigel Bickle.

"Any non-New Zealand citizen or resident applying to come to New Zealand is required to declare any criminal convictions.

"In residence applications, there is also a question relating to any involvement in drug trading or trafficking.

"He failed to declare his history and our inquiries found him out," Mr Bickle said.

The Canterbury District Health Board said it went through all required processes and checks before employing Onovo.

"His credentials met the criteria for the position and included a certificate of good standing from the Irish Medical Council that showed at least three years of good practice in Ireland," a board official said.

Referee checks with doctors who had worked with Onovo were also made by the agency that the board used to fill his position.

Onovo failed to disclose to Immigration NZ that he had been to the United Kingdom or lived there for any period of time.

He also did not say he had previously been declined a visa or denied entry to Britain.

Mr Bickle said that while Onovo was serving his prison sentence, Immigration NZ would consider what action it should take when he was released.

HISTORY OF DECEIT

STEPHEN WILCE

Employed for five years as the Defence Force's chief scientist, Wilce resigned this month after being accused of making false claims about his history. He had told people that he had served in the Royal Marines and had worked for the British secret services MI5 and MI6. He had also claimed that he had been in the British Olympic team, first as a swimmer and later as a bobsleigh representative.

LINDA ASTOR

A Polish transvestite and fake doctor, Astor conned the New Zealand Medical Council, Hutt Valley Health and Nelson Marlborough Health Services to gain work as a psychiatrist. She was responsible for the discharge in 1996 of patient Leslie Parr, who subsequently decapitated his girlfriend. Astor disappeared in 1997, but was arrested in the United States in 2001.

[Jools]

IT'S ANT ROBERTSON!!!!! Blimey..... the lad DOES have chops!!!!

[genghis61]

a second Nigerian working as a mental health worker in NZ with faked documentation

Nigerian jailed over false passports
BY GILES BROWN AND NZPA - The Press Last updated 05:00 21/10/2010

A Nigerian man found guilty of using fake passports worked as a mental health support worker in Christchurch for more than six months.

In the Christchurch District Court yesterday, Hakeem Amoo Ewebiyi was sentenced to two years and two months jail.

It is the second time this month a Nigerian man working in the mental health field has been imprisoned for immigration fraud.

Judge Jane Farish said Ewebiyi, who was found guilty after a defended hearing, came to New Zealand in 2003 on a false South African passport.

He then applied for refugee status under his correct name, but said the false passport had been stolen from him.

It was later found in a search at his home.

In the meantime, he had applied for a Nigerian passport.

When a police document examiner checked the Nigerian passport, he found it was real, but two pages had been removed and relaminated with Ewebiyi's details.

"It was not too difficult for the document examiner to ascertain that it was a false passport," the judge said.

The various documents gave Ewebiyi's age as 41 and 35.

The court heard that since coming to New Zealand, Ewebiyi had married and had a three-year-old son. He and his wife had now separated.

Between June 2009 and February this year, Ewebiyi worked as a client support worker in Christchurch for Richmond New Zealand, which provides community mental health and support services.

This month, Nigerian Chidozie Emmanuel Onovo was sentenced to 16 months jail after failing to reveal a 1999 conviction for smuggling cannabis into Britain.

Onovo worked as a psychiatrist with the Canterbury District Health Board for more than a year.

Outside court, Richmond chief executive Kath Fox said the organisation carried out police and reference checks on Ewebiyi, neither of which raised concerns.

His work involved supporting people with mental health issues or intellectual disabilities or both, she said.

"There were certainly no concerns raised that I was aware of in regard to him during his tenure with us," she said.

The group's southern regional manager, Martin Cole, said the position Ewebiyi applied for required no qualifications, although he would have been expected to work towards a level three National Certificate in Community Support work.

However, he left before attaining the certificate.

Richmond was not aware of the charges being laid, Cole said.

The judge said the integrity of the passport system was fundamental to New Zealand's ability to control its frontier and enforce immigration policy.

"A fulltime custodial sentence is required," the judge said.

[keda]

I don't know why they bother hiring Nigerians when they could just send them back home with the appropriate account details.

[genghis61]

^ I wonder if they spent their spare time using the work computer to send out those emails promising a share of $35m their late father left in a dodgy bank account?

[The Master Cool]

Isn't there a lawyer in Khon Kaen who stabbed his mother 40 times and killed her.

These professionals, weirdos the lot of them.

[Nostradamus]

^ must have been a Thai lawyer, foreigners are prohibited to work in that profession.

[The Master Cool]

Canadian I believe.

Passed the bar in Canada. Works for Isan Lawyers I think.

[Nostradamus]

^ not legally as a lawyer though.

[spikebs4]

Isn't there a lawyer in Khon Kaen who stabbed his mother 40 times and killed her.

These professionals, weirdos the lot of them.

khorat

[chitown]

Canadian I believe.

Passed the bar in Canada. Works for Isan Lawyers I think.

Would be a good read. Do you have a link?

[genghis61]

^ Mr. Sebastian H. Brousseau is Canadian Attorney-at-law from the Bar of Quebec (license 199862-5). He completed his bachelor degree of Law in Canada (LLB) before doing his Bar school.

plenty of Google references, incl from www.canada.com

In 1990, Sébastien Brousseau was convicted of stabbing his mother to death. After serving two years of his nearly five-year sentence, Brousseau completed a law degree and went on to become a lawyer - but not in Quebec, where his decade-long battle for the right to practise law pushed his criminal background into the spotlight.

Because Brousseau completed his education with top marks and trained under a respected lawyer, the provincial judicial body that oversees professional disputes ruled he had "the morals, the conduct, the competence, the knowledge and the qualities" required to practise law.

It also said Brousseau, who now lives in Asia, had shown "convincing evidence that he is not the same person" he was at 21, when he killed his mother in a fit of rage.

[SiLeakHunt]

Does he still get invited to the family Christmas Dinner ?