A Nigerian man identified as Afamefuna Ilene has been apprehended by the UK authorities for conning a taxman out of £25,000.
Ilene who is said to be a serial fraudster was reported to have created two imaginary children with complete details including bogus birth certificates and school letters which he used in the fraudulent act.
The 44-year-old Ilene claimed his son and daughter were living with him in his single bedroom flat in Battersea, south London, after their mother fell ill in Nigeria.
He thereafter produced birth certificates from a Lagos hospital of the children, a son named Olabode Hycinth Ilene born in 1994 and a daughter named Chiyene Amaka Janet Ilene born in 1999.
He also forged admission letters from a local academy and a college and presented a photoshopped an optician’s letter for the younger child which qualified him for an extra £65 per week to cover his child care costs.
He has however been nabbed by authorities and sentenced to 30 months imprisonment.