A woman who presented herself as a doctor duped Britain’s NHS out of an estimated £1.3 million after faking her qualifications will spend a “substantial” amount of time behind bars.
For 20 years, Iranian-born Zholia Alemi worked across various UK health trusts using a forged medical degree that put her in close contact with “hundreds” of vulnerable patients.
She was found guilty of multiple offences at Manchester Crown Court where a judge described her actions as “deliberate and wicked deception.”
Alemi was convicted of 13 counts of fraud, three counts of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, two counts of forgery and two counts of using a false instrument, following a four-week trial.
Accomplished Forger
Details of Alemi’s deep levels of deception were heard throughout the long court case.Prosecutors told how she landed a job in the NHS after claiming to have qualified at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Alemi had earned between £1 million and £1.3 million from the health service after she sent the forged certificate to the General Medical Council (GMC) to register to practise in 1995, the court heard.
She was also accused of sending a forged letter of verification, which the jury heard had “verify” spelt as “varify” and referred to “six years medical trainee with satisfactory grade.”
Christopher Stables, prosecuting, said Alemi is believed to be 60, although the court heard that she had three different dates of birth on documents.
Opening the case, he told the jury: “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.”
The court was told Alemi had been convicted of three fraud offences at Carlisle Crown Court in 2018 after forging a will to make herself the beneficiary and forging powers of attorney.
She was sentenced to five years in prison after re-drafting the 84-year-old woman’s will.
Following her first conviction, the GMC apologised for “inadequate” checks made in the 1990s and for “any risk arising to patients as a result.”
Alemi, of Plumbe Street in Burnley, denied forging her degree certificate, telling the jury she did not fail any exams in the six-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery course.
The court heard that university records showed Alemi, who was born in Iran, was stopped from re-enrolling at the university in New Zealand after failing a number of years.
She claimed she had moved from her home country to New Zealand after she and her family were tortured following the Iranian revolution.
Triggered 3,000 Medical Checks
Janice Wild, from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “Alemi used forged New Zealand medical qualifications to obtain employment as a UK NHS psychiatrist for 20 years.“In doing so, she must have treated hundreds of patients when she was unqualified to do so, potentially putting them at risk.
“Her fraudulent actions also enabled her to dishonestly earn income and benefits in excess of £1 million, to which she was not entitled.
“We will now pursue confiscation proceedings against her aiming to recover the criminal property from which she has benefited.”
Setting Alemi’s sentence hearing for Feb. 28, Judge Manley said the deception allowed the defendant to work in positions which involved “potentially very vulnerable people over a long period of time” and described the offending as “very grave.”
The judge told the court that, before sentencing, she wanted to know “how it was this defendant was able to practise as long as she was, in so many positions.”
Speaking to the local newspaper following Alemi’s conviction, Detective Superintendent Matt Scott—the officer who led the complex investigation—said: “Zholia Alemi had denied these offences and chose to stand trial.
“But a jury have heard the evidence over a number of weeks and found her guilty.
“Ahead of her sentencing, I would like to pay tribute to my team of dedicated detectives, the NHS CFA team, and our prosecution team at the Crown Prosecution Service Specialist Fraud Office for their extensive investigations.
“I would like to thank the cooperation of the various health partners in the NHS, GMC and more, who we have liaised with during the course of this investigation.
“I would also like to thank the jury who have sat and listened to the evidence in this high-profile case as well as the prosecution Counsel team of Mr. Stables and Ms. Atherton.”
