Zimbabwean Cheats Targeting The National Health Service

I do get angry when I read of Zimbabweans that commit crimes once they have escaped the hell of Mugabe's Zimbabwe. perhaps the only comfort they will have is that the prisons that they are sent to in the foreign country are, nine times out of ten, a lot more human than those run by Mugabe's prison services.

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"A Zimbabwean woman who lied about her British immigration status to obtain a £36000 National National Health Service (NHS) bursary to train as a nurse has escaped with a wholly suspended 12-month jail term after admitting eight counts of fraud.

Fadzai Martha Zongoro, 31, of Arrow Place, Bletchley, will serve 200 hours community service after her prison sentence was suspended for two years at the Peterborough Crown Court."

A suspended sentence? We have read of other Zimbabweans going to prison for less... And will this woman be returned to Zimbabwe?

And why is the NHS a common target for these people?

"Judge Peter Maoney QC indicated he would have given a custodial sentence were it not for the fact Zongoro was sole carer of her two young children."

I find that to be a dangerous precedent for it suggests that single mothers of young children will be excused prison time for crimes committed because of their duties as mothers, What about their duties as law abiding citizens?

And it wasn't that she just lied about her immigration status...

"Among other lies she told on her way to landing the bursary for study at the University of Bedfordshire, Zongoro:

• Supplied false Home Office documentation to indicate that she has indefinite leave to remain in the UK when she did not.

• Presented a forged Zimbabwe Ministry of Education General Certificate of Education which indicated that she had passed a number of GCSE 'O' Levels which she had not.

• Claimed dedependent allowances for her children by providing copies of documents to support the false claim she was a UK citizen, including a forged UK birth certificate.

• Made false statements to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to obtain a provisional licence - which has since been revoked.

• Juggled two forged National Insurance number cards."

You tell me - does she deserve to just get a wholly suspended sentence?

And yet another case – very similar to the first…

Why is the NHS such a soft target for these people who enter the UK illegally or outstay their legal entry? How is it that the MHS is taken in so easily?

I am a recipient of the care and administration of the NHS and have, before today, written letters to the relevant authorities thanking them for the service I have received when in need. But I do worry that the next time that I need assistance I might find myself being treated by someone who has lied and cheated their way to the position and my health may be compromised as a result...

"A nursing assistant who defrauded the UK National Health Service of more than £60000 after fraudulently claiming a bursary using forged papers has been told she faces deportation to Zimbabwe.

Lorraine Nkuni Tshuma,47, will carry out 220 hours of community service after her 12 month prison sentence was wholly suspended for 18 months at the Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday.

She was served with a deportation notice on October 11 and faces assets seizure under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The court heard Tshuma arrived in the UK in 2000 on a six month visitor's visa to take a short training course. Since that visa expired nearly a decade ago in April 2001, she had no leave to remain and no recourse to public funds.

But the mum of three obtained a false Home Office letter that appeared to grant her 'indefinite leave to enter or remain' in the UK. This gave the illusion she had settled status, an essential precondition for NHS-funded training and bursaries."

So where did she get the false letter from and where did she get the necessary paperwork that gives her indefinite leave to remain in the UK which would be placed in her travel document?

That, for me, is an area which needs urgent and focused attention to stop this sort of thing happening time and again as it has in the past. Just going through this blog will uncover many cases that I have highlighted - the vast majority of which refer to the NHS...

"She used the false Home Office letter to gain admission to a three year nurse training Diploma Course at Anglia Ruskin University in October 2004 - with £18238 sponsored by the East of England Strategic Health Authority.

Shortly afterwards, using the same letter, she successfully applied for a full Diploma level NHS Student Bursary of £30972,13 and dependents' allowances for her three children, whom she brought to the UK."

She also claimed to have passed her 'O' levels which was not the case, and she failed the Diploma course.

As I have stated so many times before, in the mind of those that perform these crimes, the worst part about it for them, is that they got caught...

Robb WJ Ellis

The Bearded Man