$268,000 fraud: UK jails Nigerian doctor

UK Court

THE United Kingdom National Health Service Counter Fraud Authority has announced that it secured the three-year conviction of a Nigerian doctor, Richard Akinrolabu, for offences bordering on fraud by false representation to the tune of £268,000.

PUNCH Metro learnt from a statement posted on the NHSCFA website on Monday that Akinrolabu was employed as a trust grade specialist registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology by the Princess Royal University Hospital, and between 2018 and 2021, he gave excuses to his employer to reduce his workload.

The statement noted that while he was being excused on the grounds that he was sick and unable to work night shifts, Akinrolabu secured employment with other hospitals and was working the same shifts he had claimed he could not take up due to medical reasons.

It read in part, “A former NHS resident doctor has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to defrauding the NHS out of more than £268,000, following an NHS Counter Fraud Authority investigation. Between October 2018 and December 2021, he worked on-call and night shifts at three additional trusts, despite informing his employer that he was unfit to do the same work for them.

“He worked these shifts whilst on sick leave or on reduced duties from King’s College Hospital. As well as paying Dr Akinrolabu his full salary, the trust had to employ locums to cover these shifts.

“In November 2021, KCH received information stating that Akinrolabu had been working night shifts at Basildon Hospital. Investigations by the trust’s local counter fraud team found that he had worked several on-call shifts there.”

The statement noted that upon receiving information about Akinrolabu’s conduct, the NHSCFA conducted an independent investigation, obtained evidence and invited the defendant for an interview in 2022, but he declined to comment on the matter. Punch