Paid £40,000 for
not working a single day
The Northern Echo
A "greedy" doctor who forged time sheets to con the
NHS out of more than £40,000 in wages has been jailed.
Obstetrics and gynaecology specialist Dr Debasmita Mukhopadhyay-Chattopadhyay,
of Stanhope Road, South Shields, lied about working shifts at
South Tyneside District Hospital to claim thousands in unearned
pay.
The doctor also worked at Darlington's Memorial Hospital, between
August 2005 and January 2006.
continued...
She denied ten charges of obtaining by deception, three of forgery
and one of attempting to obtain money by deception.
The doctor claimed she was the victim of a conspiracy to "ruin"
her.
But after a trial at Newcastle Crown Court, she was found guilty
of all charges.
Judge Tony Lancaster jailed the mother-of-one for 12 months
yesterday.
He told her: "From my perspective, it is a sad sight to
see you - a doctor, an intelligent and well-educated woman with
substantial skills - in the dock for these offences.You had
no need for the money which you had taken."
Christopher Knox, defending, said that Dr Mukhopadhyay- Chattopadhyay
has paid back £30,000.
The judge said he was satisfied the doctor would have continued
to steal but for her actions being thwarted by an investigation.
She was ordered to pay £7,000 compensation to the NHS
trust.
During the trial, jurors were told how, between February 25
and November 13, she claimed £41,793.57 for work done
in South Tyneside hospital's accident and emergency, and obstetrics
and gynaecology departments.
Police who raided her Darlington home found bundles of forged
timesheets made out for further claims and wage slips accounting
for money already paid to her as a result of bogus claims.
The doctor, who gained her medical qualification in India and
was training in the UK to become an expert in keyhole surgery,
had forged the signatures of consultant doctors and the human
resources manager at the hospital to work the scam, Mr Birch
said.
The doctor began work at South Tyneside District Hospital in
May 2003.
In January 2004, she returned to the obstetrics and gynaecology
department as locum senior house officer, where she worked until
February 24.
She did not work any further with the hospital after that date
- but by forging time sheets continued to be paid until January
9, 2005.
Mukhopadhyay-Chattopadhyay denied all the charges. She said
that the wages had been paid to her by accident.
A spokesman for County Durham and Darlington Acute Hopistals
NHS Trusts confirmed Mukhopadhyay-Chattopadhyay worked at Darlington
Memorial Hospital between August 2005 and January 2006.
He said: "We have audited her contract and as far as we
can tell there's no evidence of any impropriety in relation
to her time here.
"When we learned she'd been arrested and those allegations
had been made, we did suspend her.
"Subsequently, we went through our own disciplinary procedures
and she was dismissed.
"The investigation was carried out by the NHS counter-fraud
service - and it came to light while she was working with us
at Darlington.
"We assisted them in every way we could when it came to
light."
6:02am Saturday 11th November 2006
