Doctor ordered to repay £67,000 for stealing hundreds of cheques paid to colleagues
A doctor has been ordered to repay almost £67,000 to the NHS for diverting stolen cheques to his own bank accounts, NHS fraud investigators have said.
Dr Aled Meirion Jones, 39, also submitted false claims for exaggerated working hours and locum shifts he did not actually undertake.
On Tuesday, the NHS Counter Fraud Service (NHSCFS) said a proceeds of crime hearing at Cardiff Crown Court saw Jones told to repay a sum of £66,838.47.
The doctor, who worked at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales as a registrar in the nephrology and transplant unit, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years in March after pleading guilty to two counts of fraud by abuse of position.
Over two years he stole 420 cheques, each worth between £75-£82, by switching them to his name from those of colleagues who were being paid for their work certifying the cause of death of a person before they are cremated.
He was reported to the NHS’s counter-fraud authority’s reporting line, which led to investigators finding he had used the money to sustain a gambling addiction.
The General Medical Council (GMC) is said to be undertaking a professional disciplinary investigation into his actions.
Cheryl Hill, deputy head of NHSCFS Wales, said: “Today’s result shows how determined we are in ensuring that any money defrauded from NHS Wales is recovered so it can be used for its intended purpose of patient care.
“Dr Jones abused his position of trust by fraudulently cashing death certification cheques and also falsifying time sheets for locum shifts he did not work.
“We are very pleased that the money he defrauded from NHS Wales will be returned.”
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