In a hair-raisingly elaborate scheme, a woman in Britain has been arrested and accused of using an “array of wigs” to pose as at least 14 people and take their U.K. citizenship tests for them.
The Home Office, the government department that handles crime and immigration, said the 61-year-old woman, whose name was not released, helped the applicants — both male and female — gain “an unfair advantage” in the compulsory “Life in the UK” tests.
She is accused of wearing various wigs and disguises to pass herself off as the true applicants, in an attempt to dishonestly obtain them leave to remain in the UK.
Anyone seeking to stay in the country indefinitely or naturalisation as a British citizen must take the test.
She was arrested at an address in Enfield, north London on Monday, where “several false documents and an array of wigs alleged to have been used in the fraudulent scheme” were seized.
It is alleged that between June 2022 and August the following year, the woman went to multiple UK test centres, disguising herself and doctoring ID documents to evade detection.
Fraudsters completing the test for others could “lead to people wrongly being granted the right to remain in the country without the proper due diligence,” the Home Office said.
Immigration enforcement criminal and financial investigation inspector Phillip Parr said a “complex investigation” had “put a stop to this dangerous scheme.”
“This individual is believed to have orchestrated a premeditated plan to avoid detection, meticulously selecting disguises and test centre locations across the country to evade the authorities.
Also Read: Man lived with girlfriend’s dead body for three weeks after battering her with mallet
“As with many criminals who commit this type of crime, we believe her motive was financial gain,” he said.
The Home Office said the woman remains in custody.
The Life in the UK Test consists of 24 questions aimed at “proving the applicant has sufficient knowledge of British values, history, and society,” the Home Office said.
