A fraudster had been found GUILTY of posing as a qualified doctor for over twenty years and being paid over £1 million by the NHS after forging a degree certificate. Zholia Alemi, who is believed to be 60, forged the document, along with a letter of verification and handed it to the General Medical Council, the public body responsible for maintaining the official register of general practitioners in the UK.
Alemi, of Burnley, who is already convicted of fraud ‘held herself out and practised as a doctor of medicine’, though she had never passed or achieved the relevant university qualification and was not a properly qualified doctor.
“She is, say the prosecution, a most accomplished forger and fraudster, but has no qualification that would allow her to be called, or in any way to be properly regarded as, a doctor,” Mr Stables said.
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During a trial at Manchester Crown Court, jurors heard of two documents which Alemi falsified: namely a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Auckland, more commonly abbreviated to MBChB dated 1992; and a letter of verification written by the Faculty Registrar at the university, based in New Zealand.
She applied for registration to be a doctor in the UK using the ‘Commonwealth Route’ through the GMC using these falsified documents and then obtained work either through the NHS, or through recruitment agencies, in various positions ranging from locum positions to permanent posts.
“As you will see, the defendant has held posts and has been paid as a doctor by health trusts and authorities across the length and breadth of the country,” the prosecutor said.
“A conservative estimate as to the total amount, in terms of the money fraudulently obtained by the defendant from the NHS, is somewhere between £1 million and £1.3 million.”
The court heard that the basic medical qualification and degree that all doctors must hold is ‘Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery’ (MBChB), and without it, practitioners cannot legitimately advance further or be regarded as a doctor. It requires successfully completing six years of study and all relevant exams to be passed before the qualification is rewarded.
According to official documentation from Auckland university, Alemi had enrolled in 1988 and completed her Bachelor of Human Biology, regarded as the first part of the course, in May 1992. She later enrolled on the MBChB and passed the first year, but failed the second and due to her performance, was not allowed to repeat the year, or complete the course.
This meant that she was never awarded the degree, never graduated as a doctor and why she went on to forge the degree certificate.
The letter of verification was found to have a number of spelling errors including the author being the ‘Faculty Regitrar’, who wrote to ‘varify’ she had completed six years of training with ‘satisfactory grade’. The author, Susan Cathersides, had moved to a different post at the time when the document was created.
In 2019 police searched a home owned by Alemi in Omagh, Northern Ireland, and discovered a briefcase in a cupboard under the stairs containing part of a “forger’s kit”, including dry transfer letters from WHSmith and documents which were ‘practice versions’ of a forged certificate.
Alemi later went onto work as a psychiatrist and was admitted to the Royal College of Psychiatrists after passing the relevant exams. Prosecutors say her membership was ‘entirely bogus’ as a candidate must hold the MBChB qualification.
“In reality, this defendant was at all times posing as a psychiatrist despite not having a medical degree” Mr Stables concluded.
In November 2018, the GMC withdrew her licence to practise as a doctor, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists terminated her membership within days of the forgeries coming to light.
Giving evidence at her trial, Alemi said all of the documents were genuine.
She told the court that she moved to the UK and sent a letter of verification, along with the degree certificate, to the GMC in 1995.
“Did you forge this document?” her barrister, Francis FitzGibbon KC asked her. “No, I didn’t,” she said.
Alemi was asked about the various spelling mistakes in the letter of verification, which spelt verify as “varify” and referred to “six years medical trainee with satisfactory grade”.
She said: “I don’t think this letter could be produced by somebody who has got even just a Bachelor’s degree from Auckland University. It is an English speaking university, you cannot pass your exams without knowing English and this letter, to me, is very unusual.”
Alemi was convicted in October 2018 following a trial at Carlisle Crown Court of three fraud offences. The jury was told she had forged a will to make herself the beneficiary and forged signatures on applications to hold powers of attorney.
However, today (February 15), after just under seven hours of deliberations, jurors returned guilty verdicts on the 20 count indictment which includes two offences of forgery; two offences of using a false instrument; three offences of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception; and 13 offences of fraud by false representation.
Addressing the court, Judge Hilary Manley said: “It was very serious offending of deliberate and wicked deception, perpetrated to various authorities including the GMC, which has allowed this defendant to practise in a position over potentially very vulnerable people for a long period of time.
“Ms Alemi, I will sentence you for this very grave offending. There is only one possible sentence I can pass on you, and that is a sentence of immediate custody for some substantial length.”
Alemi, of Plumbe Street, Burnley, will be sentenced on February 28 and was remanded into custody.
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