Gloucestershire security business and SIA combat use of fake security licence 

In November 2019, Ugorji sought legal employment from Cheltenham-based Sterling Security. He presented the company with a counterfeit door supervisor’s licence and a driver’s licence in someone else’s name.  

Sterling Security immediately alerted the SIA, whose investigators discovered that, while Ugorji was resident in the UK on a legal basis, he had no right to work here. He was using a counterfeit SIA licence card and a non-existent address as his means of identification.

On 4 December 2019, Ugorji was invited to attend a job interview and an induction process at Sterling Security's offices. However, on attending the premises he was met by officers from the Gloucester Constabulary as well as SIA investigators. The former arrested Ugorji on the premises.  

Further investigation revealed that Ugorji, who was carrying the counterfeit licence at the time of his arrest, had worked for another security company in Birmingham where he had used the same fake identity documents and licence. It was also discovered that Ugorji had been working illegally at several locations in West London between October and December 2019.  

Nathan Salmon, one of the SIA’s criminal investigations managers, stated: “This case is a good example of a security business contacting us about the discovery of a fake licence. We’ve been reminding security companies to carry out physical checks on licences and not to accept copies at face value.”  

Ugorji was sentenced to a three-month curfew between the hours of 7.00 am and 11.00 pm daily. He was also ordered to pay a contribution to court costs of £50 as well as a £90 victim surcharge. The magistrates took into account Ugorji’s previous good character and an early guilty plea.