Court Orders Individual to Repay Over £400,000 Defrauded from NHS After Fake Psychiatrist Scam
An individual who fraudulently worked as a psychiatrist for 22 years has been ordered by Manchester Crown Court to repay £406,624 to the NHS or face an additional two and a half years in prison. The sum reflects all currently known assets and must be repaid within three months.
I nvestigators from the NHSCFA, using the Proceeds of Crime Act, secured a confiscation order to recover money from this person’s assets, with the returned funds set to be distributed to the affected NHS trusts.
This person was found to have forged medical qualifications and deceived the General Medical Council with fake documents in 1995 to register as a doctor in the UK. Over two decades, they fraudulently obtained more than £1 million from various UK health bodies and were convicted in 2023 of multiple offences, including fraud and forgery. The truth came to light after a local journalist queried the legitimacy of their qualifications, prompted by a previous court case in 2016 involving an attempt to inherit £1.3 million from a ‘patient’ via a forged will. The Police, alongside the NHSCFA, investigated the forged registration documents.
Specialist investigators identified assets including several properties and cash held in UK bank accounts, enabling the repayment order. A spokesperson for the NHSCFA welcomed the decision, highlighting it as a warning that those defrauding the NHS will be pursued and made to pay back what has been stolen. The collaboration between multiple agencies was praised as being key in bringing the matter to justice and recovering funds for the NHS.
6 | SCRUTTON BLAND | COUNTER FRAUD
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