ADVERTISEMENT

Nigerian woman jailed for stealing doctor's identity, working as GP in the UK

A Nigerian lady has been sent to prison for stealing a medical doctors identity and working as a general practitioner.

Oluwadamilola Opemuyi

For several months, Nigerian born, 39-year-old Oluwadmilola Opemuyi, worked at the Elmley Prison in Kent, in the United Kingdom, as a qualified medical doctor, treating no fewer than 91 inmates in the process, prescribing medication as well as recommending treatment regimen.

ADVERTISEMENT

In a single shift, she saw 21 patients, even issuing a death certificate at a care home.

She then worked at a health centre in Liverpool, where she dealt with another 25 patients. At a second surgery in the city she saw a further 25, two of them on home visits.

Before then, she had also worked as a consultant, making a whopping £2,000-an-hour, working across both HMP Elmley and HMP Swaleside, where GP services are provided by Minster Medical Group.

ADVERTISEMENT

But alas, Opemuyi is not even a qualified medical doctor  - she is a University of West London Music, Technology and Public Relations graduate who duped agencies into getting her work by assuming the identity of a fully qualified doctor and using false documents.

The Maidstone Crown Court heard that she actually stole the identity of a qualified Nigerian doctor, Oluwadamilola Adeyo, a General Medical Council (GMC) registered GP, and has been practising with the woman's name, using a fake driving licence, marriage certificate and passport, as she found work treating patients in five separate locations.

But her life of deceit began to be questioned when the Elmley Prison authorities received complaints about her work, when she bypassed prison protocols by increasing an inmate's opiate-based drug, and her contract was terminated.

Describing her as a 'delusional' fraudster, prosecutors say Opemuyi, whose father is a gynaecologist and mother a paediatrician, was eventually caught out when she presented two forged prescriptions at Boots chemist in Maidstone.

Prosecutor Ryan Richter said Opemuyi set out on her criminal course after failing in her bid to become registered with the General Medical Council (GMC).

ADVERTISEMENT

He told the court:

"After telling the regulatory body that she was thinking of doing a master's degree in mental health, the council informed her that qualification alone would not be sufficient, and that she'd have to complete five years at medical school during which it was required for her to obtain degrees in medicine and surgery.

It was on the back of this rejection that her fraudulent activities began.

She was to use Dr Adeyo's GMC registration number, utilising the similarity in their names as part of her deception of a number of agencies.

Miss Opemuyi conducted a brazen, sustained and intelligent campaign of forgery and fraud in order to obtain employment in a specialist profession in which the public place the highest degree of trust, when she was without appropriate training or experience."

ADVERTISEMENT

Opemuyi has admitted her guilt to four offences of fraud, two of possessing false identity documents and three of forgery - moments before she was due to stand trial.

Richter said the total amount she defrauded was £8,916 and she was jailed for two years and four months.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT