UK, Feb. 12, 2006
Ramesh Verma
NRI (non-resident Indian), Dentist Shabbir Merchant,
40, jailed for 18 months for £300,000
fraud to NHS by claiming for work he hadn't
done. NHS Counter Fraud Team added: "Merchant
invented expensive treatments for nearly 200 patients,
which the NHS paid for".
NHS fraud investigators realised each payment Merchant
was claiming was just below the limit which required
formal authorisation.When he was asked for records
for the patients from his Swiss Cottage practice Merchant
claimed he had been burgled the day before and three
years worth of paperwork had been stolen
Shabbir admitted 20 specimen counts of dishonestly
obtaining a money transfer by deception between September
1998 and August 2003. Another 40 counts were left
to lie on the file. A legal source said after the
hearing: "The NHS Dental Board said he was making
claims for a sum that came just inside the limit that
needed pre-authorisation.
"He made lots of claims over a short period
so drew their attention and they requested his patient
cards. We do not accept any of the work was genuine.
The £200,000 excludes the value of the genuine
work."The 20 charges of obtaining money transfers
by deception charges total £197,997.78.
Assets of £1 million have been frozen including
a Ferrari and six properties in London and Manchester.
Judge Neil Stewart said it was a "sad fact"
that "highly respected and respectable professional
men in positions of trust" who had given in to
temptation were coming before the court all too frequently.
