Samuel Chimize Ugorji of Gloucester was prosecuted on Wednesday 10 February at Gloucestershire Magistrates’ Court on two counts of fraud and one count of infringement of the Private Security Industry Act. The prosecution was brought by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
In November 2019 Ugorji sought legal employment from Cheltenham-based Sterling Security. Ugorji presented Sterling Security with a counterfeit door supervisor’s licence and a driver’s licence in someone else’s name.
Sterling Security alerted the SIA, whose investigators discovered that while Ugorji was living in the UK legally, he had no right to work. He was using a counterfeit SIA licence card and a non-existent address as his identification.
On 4 December 2019 Ugorji was invited to attend a job interview and induction at Sterling Security’s offices. However, he was met by officers from Gloucester Constabulary and SIA investigators who arrested him on the premises.
Further investigation revealed that Ugorji, who was carrying the counterfeit licence, had worked for another security company in Birmingham where he had used the same fake identity documents and licence. He had also been working illegally at several locations in West London between October and December 2019.
Nathan Salmon, one of the SIA’s Criminal Investigations Managers, said:
This case is a good example of a security business getting in touch with us when they found a fake licence. We have been reminding companies to carry out physical checks on licences and not to accept copies at face value.
Ugorji was sentenced on Wednesday to a three-month curfew between the hours of 7am and 11pm daily. He was also ordered to pay a contribution to court costs of £50 and a £90 victim surcharge. The magistrates took into account his previous good character and an early guilty plea.
Notes to editors:
- by law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence
- read about SIA enforcement and penalties
- the offence relating to the Private Security Industry Act 2001 that is mentioned in the above news release is:
- Section 3(1): working without a licence
- the offences relating to the Fraud Act 2006 that are mentioned in the above new release are:
- Section 3 Fraud Act 2006
- Section 6 Fraud Act 2006
- read the Private Security Industry Act 2001
Further information:
- The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the United Kingdom, reporting to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Our main duties are: the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities; and managing the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.
- For further information about the Security Industry Authority visit www.gov.uk/sia. The SIA is also on Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and Twitter (SIAuk).
- Media enquiries only please contact: 0300 123 9869, media.enquiries@sia.gov.uk
