A medical recruitment agent, along with four health care
assistants and a nurse he had persuaded to defraud the NHS, have
all been sentenced at Kingston-upon-Hull Crown Court (18 May 2018)
for conspiracy to defraud.
Charles Elad, 46, was working as a recruitment officer for
ID Medical at the time of the offences. Each of the five workers
was convicted of separate fraud conspiracies with Elad. His wife,
Tanyi Elad, was convicted of a money laundering offence.
The total loss to the NHS was £72,991.11. Various NHS
hospitals in England were targeted, including Scunthorpe General,
Royal Blackburn, Shrewsbury and Darlington.
Elad enlisted George Kiberu, Violet Nhende, Abosede Amusan,
Ernest Anonyo and Rilindis Bessem to submit large numbers of
fraudulent timesheets to the recruitment agency, who were unaware
of the fraudulent activity taking place. The agency workers were
subsequently paid for the unworked shift. The agency then
unknowingly invoiced the various Trusts for these shifts.
Once an agency worker had been paid for these ghost
‘shifts’, Charles Elad would then request they make a payment to
him, using his wife Tanyi Esekang Elad’s bank account to hide the
transactions.
The initial investigation started at the local level. As
they realised the problem extended to other areas, the Local
Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) for Northern Lincolnshire and
Goole NHS Foundation Trust, referred the case up to the national
body.
NHSCFA investigators were able to prove in court both that
Charles Elad had conspired with the other defendants, and how he
had been the orchestrator of their activity.
The trial began on 23 April 2018. Nhende, Kiberu and Anonyo
pleaded guilty to their charges, with the remaining defendants
entering not guilty pleas and going to trial.
Charles Elad received three years’ imprisonment.
He had denied five counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false
representation and one count of fraud. He was convicted of four
counts of conspiracy to commit fraud and one count of fraud, with
the remaining conspiracy count left to lie on file.
Abosede Amusan (38) and Rilindis
Bessem (39) received 16 month and six month prison sentences
respectively. They each denied one count of conspiracy to commit
fraud by false representation but were convicted by the jury.
Violet Nhende (49), George
Kiberu (50) and Ernest Anonyo (40) received
prison sentences (all suspended for two years) - of eight months,
15 months and eight months respectively. They each admitted one
count of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.
Tanyi Esekang Elad (38) denied converting
criminal property but was convicted by the jury. She received a
four month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
Richard Rippin, Head of Operations at the NHSCFA,
said today:
"The NHSCFA is delighted with the outcome of this
investigation. Although this crime was orchestrated by Charles
Elad, all seven conspired to deliberately defraud multiple NHS
organisations. They had been employed to care for NHS patients,
but instead took resources away from patient care for their own
personal gain.
The result demonstrates the value of local and national NHS
bodies working in partnership to tackle fraud. It sends a message
to anyone under the mistaken impression that NHS funds are an easy
target for fraud, that they will be caught".
The sentencing judge issued a commendation to both the
national and local NHS investigators involved. NHSCFA action will
now continue under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover the money
lost to the NHS.
If you suspect that anyone is committing fraud or
another economic crime against the NHS, tell NHSCFA about it -
you can call our 24-hour, confidential reporting line 0800 028 40 60 or use our online reporting tool
"NHS fraud. Spot it, report it, together we stop it"
For more information contact James Robertson or
Rianne Endeley-Brown at the NHSCFA press office on 020 7895
4519/4524.
Notes to Editors
- Offences in detail: Charles Elad guilty
of Conspiracy to commit fraud by False Representation, contrary
to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 and one count of
Fraud, contrary to section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006. Tanyi
Esekang Elad guilty of Converting Criminal Property, contrary to
section 327 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. George
Kiberu guilty of Conspiracy to commit fraud by False
Representation, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act
1977. Violet Nhende guilty of Conspiracy to
commit fraud by False Representation, contrary to section 1(1) of
the Criminal Law Act 1977. Abosede Amusan guilty
of Conspiracy to commit fraud by False Representation, contrary
to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. Ernest
Anonyo guilty of Conspiracy to commit fraud by False
Representation, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act
1977. Rilindis Bessem guilty of Conspiracy to
commit fraud by False Representation, contrary to section 1(1) of
the Criminal Law Act 1977.
- For more details visit the website www.cfa.nhs.uk
- NHS Counter Fraud Authority is a Special Health Authority
established under the NHS Act 2006 as amended.
- When NHSCFA uses the term 'fraud', we refer to a range of
economic crimes, such as fraud, bribery, corruption or any other
illegal acts committed by an individual or group of individuals
to obtain a financial or professional gain.
- NHSCFA will also support the work of the NHS Counter
Fraud Service (Wales)
- NHSCFA will work closely with NHS Local Counter Fraud
Specialists across the NHS in England to ensure that healthcare
crime is tackled and a culture of fraud prevention and deterrence
is in place.
- There are some 300 professionally trained and accredited
Local Counter Fraud Specialists in place within health bodies
across England and Wales.