Moorfields Eye Hospital porter jailed

A porter who worked illegally at Moorfields Eye Hospital for six years after using a fake passport has been jailed.

Herbert Sengati, 35, of Wakefield Street, Edmonton, was given a 15 month prison sentence after admitting to using the false document to support his job application.

Blackfriars Crown Court heard how Mr Sengati was refused asylum in 2004 and immediately served papers ordering him to leave the UK.

But when he underwent pre-employment checks with the hospital in City Road, Finsbury, in August 2004, he produced a Tanzanian passport which included a forged stamp indicating he had indefinite leave to remain in the country.

The deception was exposed when the National Fraud Initiative compared payroll records with Department for Work and Pensions data. NHS Protect was called in to investigate when Mr Sengati’s National Insurance Number was found not to match.

Checks with the UK Border Agency revealed the forged stamp.

The porter was arrested at work in January last year and immediately suspended, and dismissed the following month.

Mr Sengati pleaded guilty to a charge of Using a False Instrument with Intent and Obtaining Pecuniary Advantage by Deception.

The fraud cost the NHS �116,650 in salary payments and costs.