A man who was told he had "no right to work" used fake documents to get a job at care homes.
Reagen Tjiueza, 32, of Wordsworth Street, Toxteth, arrived in the UK on May 18 2019 from Ethiopia and claimed asylum. He was given accommodation and began to receive benefit payments of £33.75 per week. He was told he had no right to work.
Despite this, he applied for work as a carer with a company called Sabaoth Care and started working for them in February 2020.
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As identification he submitted a fake French passport under the name of Bob Deutsch, a Job Centre Plus application letter, a British Gas bill, a Halifax bank statement, and other documents including a fake healthcare assistant certificate.
Tjiueza was employed by Sabaoth Care until August 19 2021 and earned a total of £5,780.
In August 2020, he also began working for Lords Care Recruitment as a carer. Again, he used the fake passport as ID, a false provisional licence under the name of Bob Deutsch, and the fake healthcare assistant certificate.
He worked for Lords Care between August 2020 and March 2021 and earned a total of £11,077.
On January 7 2021 his asylum application was refused, a decision which he is appealing. In May 2021 he told immigration officers that he was not working, despite still being employed by Lords Care and Sabaoth Care.
He used fake ID to apply for work as a carer with Le Temp Care agency but was refused. In June 2021 he used similar fake ID in the name of Bob Deutsch and worked for Fenwick Healthcare Staffing on a self-employed basis between June 22 2021 and July 19 2021 and earned a total of £495.
On July 26 2021, immigration officers went to Tjiueza's home in Liverpool and searched it. They found one of his work passes, time sheets for his employment with Sabaoth Care and the various fake ID documents.
During the period he had been working, Tjiueza had also received £6,578.82 in benefits.
He was arrested and in September pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud by false representation, two counts of possession of an identification document with improper intent, and one count of failure to notify of a change of circumstances.
He was jailed for 12 months at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, October 12.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Caroline Ross of CPS Mersey Cheshire said: "Reagen Tjiueza, is a persistent cheat who used lies and fake documents to gain employment when he knew he was not supposed to.
"He obtained work in care homes, where there are vulnerable people but due to his use of false ID to obtain the work, his employers would not have been able to properly vet his application or check his background.
"He sought asylum here, as he is entitled to do, and was paid benefits to support him whilst his application was considered, however he then tried to cheat the system and made up his own rules.
"His asylum application was rejected, although he is appealing against this decision, as he is entitled to do, but he lied to immigration officials and said he was not working.
"He knew what he was doing was against the law but did it anyway and is now paying the price for his dishonesty."
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