Baptist minister: Hand me £9,000 and I’ll help you to get care home job
His mission, he proclaims, is to establish God’s kingdom on earth. In his impassioned sermons at the packed Pentecost Baptist Church in Liverpool, Dr Rev Philip Oyewale routinely calls for his flock to praise and honour their salvation Jesus.
Dressed in a bright tailored suit with a gold watch, he declares ‘Hallelujah, praise the Lord’, prompting worshippers to respond in unison.
But when our undercover reporter arrived to see Mr Oyewale at his church, it was used for a less spiritual purpose.
Sitting in his vestry, a university graduation photo behind him, he offered to charge a Nigerian undercover reporter £9,000 to help her obtain Home Office sponsorship for a job in a UK care home.
Our investigation came after learning that his company, Charis Recruits, had been suspended from the Home Office migrant sponsorship scheme in February last year because it was suspected of ‘supplying sponsored workers as labour’.
His mission, he proclaims, is to establish God’s kingdom on earth. In his impassioned sermons at the packed Pentecost Baptist Church in Liverpool, Dr Rev Philip Oyewale (pictured) routinely calls for his flock to praise and honour their salvation Jesus
But when our undercover reporter arrived to see Mr Oyewale at his church (pictured), it was used for a less spiritual purpose
It was said to have sponsored 376 migrants from July 2022 to February 2023 in an operation suspected of making over £1million.
Despite this, whistleblowers told the Mail, Mr Oyewale was still offering to help migrants get sponsorship.
And when the undercover reporter posing as a overseas student looking for full-time work approached the minister, he told her he could help her get a Certificate of Sponsorship – required for a work visa – in just three days.
He said that after the payment he would introduce her to someone who would help her and promised a ‘100 per cent’ success rate and said there would be no problems with the Home Office.
‘There’s nothing to worry about. I can assure you of that.’ Pointing at himself, he added: ‘That’s the assurance I personally can give you.’
The work would be domiciliary care – supporting a disabled or elderly person in their own home – in Newcastle or Middlesbrough, he said.
The only question he asked about suitability for the job was if our applicant had a car.
He declined to say what the wage would be, simply saying: ‘You will be paid. We have more than enough hours. You will work until you say you are tired.’
He refused to say how many people he had previously helped. He said once the £9,000 had been paid, he would ‘introduce’ her to the person with the job.
Mr Oyewale, 47, is a registered minister with the Baptist Union which represents Baptist churches in England and Wales. He has several social media sites with thousands of followers where he posts videos promoting church events.
Mr Oyewale, 47, is a registered minister with the Baptist Union which represents Baptist churches in England and Wales
He has several social media sites with thousands of followers where he posts videos promoting church events
Charis Recruits said it would investigate the Mail’s allegations, but said because Mr Oyewale had resigned as a director of the company three months after its Home Office licence was revoked, he was ‘no longer able to make decisions’ for the firm.
The company declined to answer subsequent questions about why Mr Oyewale’s mobile number remained on the contacts section of the company website and why the email Charis Recruits sent to the Mail listed Philip Oyewale as the company’s ‘registered manager’ at the bottom.
Mr Oyewale told the Mail he only gave advice to those who needed help getting sponsorship and never benefited financially. The undercover reporter did not pay the £9,000 for which he asked.
He added: ‘Any advice I gave, even prior to my resignation from Charis Recruits Ltd, was solely intended to help them advance and be able to earn a respectable livelihood while lawfully remaining in the UK.’
Q&A
How do UK companies hire overseas workers?
Employers usually need a sponsor licence to hire someone from outside the UK. Depending on its size, a qualifying company must pay either £536 or £1,476 to the Home Office for a licence.
This allows the firm to issue Certificate of Sponsorships for eligible overseas employees, which cost £239 per worker and has to be paid to the Home Office. Employees use the Certificates to obtain a UK work visa.
Why is there a problem with care homes?
Low pay, job insecurity and poor working conditions fuelled by years of under-investment in the sector and extra strain during the pandemic led to a massive shortage of care workers by late 2021.
But the number of overseas care workers has rocketed since early 2022 after ministers relaxed immigration rules to try to plug the vacancies in the sector.
Care workers are now classed as ‘skilled’, meaning licensed employers can issue overseas staff Certificates of Sponsorship to apply for Health and Care Worker Visas.
But campaigners have warned of widespread abuse of the system with foreign workers illegally charged for jobs which leads to unqualified or unsuitable staff working in care homes.
Are recruitment agencies allowed to charge workers for sponsorship or jobs?
No. It is illegal for UK-based recruitment agencies to impose fees on individuals for the promise of securing employment opportunities.
If using a recruitment agent, sponsors must ensure the agency does not charge individual workers for job placements. Employers are only allowed to transfer the £239 Certificate of Sponsorship fee to workers.
Can migrants with care visas take other jobs?
Sponsored workers can work up to 20 hours a week in another job or their own business, but only if it is in the care sector or in another government-designated ‘shortage occupation’ which includes some NHS management roles and trades such as carpentry and bricklaying.
What do campaigners say?
Nadra Ahmed, chairman of the National Care Association, has called for an urgent overhaul of the rules, with the Home Office needed to strengthen English requirements and spend more time with follow-up visits to homes using foreign care workers.-Dailymail
