False passport worker claimed cash

A WOMAN who changed her name to Napoleon to scam her way into an NHS job while illegally claiming benefits has been jailed for 15 months.

Linda Uwaifo, 44 , of Cassland Road, South Hackney, earned over �144,000 from the NHS after getting a job as a nursing auxiliary at Mile End Hospital in May 2002.

Uwaifo got the job after producing a Nigerian passport with false Home Office stamps and the name ‘Linda Napoleon’ attached to it.

Despite being employed, Uwaifo continued to claim benefits under her real name while picking up a paycheck under her French Emperor pseudonym.

Her Waterloo arrived when the NHS Counter Fraud Service (CFS) received a phone call tipping them off and an investigation was launched in July 2009.

The team worked together with the Department for Work and Pensions in looking into the allegations of fraud and she was arrested shortly after.

Uwaifo pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud in December 2009 and was sentenced to 15 months in jail at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday September 28.

Julietta Muhammad, a Counter Fraud Specialist at NHS CFS, said: “The honesty and integrity of all NHS staff is of the utmost importance. Ms Uwaifo deliberately chose to mislead her patients, colleagues and employer to claim more money dishonestly.”

To report any incident of suspected fraud in the NHS, please call the Fraud and Corruption Reporting Line on 0800 028 40 60 or report online at www.reportnhsfraud.nhs.uk