‘Cunning’ fake doctor jailed for seven years after forging Auckland University degree

The “highly manipulative and cunning” Kiwi woman who used a forged Auckland University medical degree to gain employment in the United Kingdom has been jailed for seven years.

Zholia Alemi posed as a psychiatrist and worked for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) for nearly two decades and was paid about $2 million.

She was found guilty by a jury at the Manchester Crown Court on a number of fraud-related charges, which were described as a “deliberate and wicked deception”.

Early Wednesday morning (Tuesday UK time), Judge Hilary Manley sentenced her to seven years, ordering she serve at least half of that sentence.

READ MORE:
* How a forged Auckland Uni degree hoodwinked the UK’s General Medical Council
* Fake Kiwi ‘doctor’ committed ‘wicked deception’, found guilty of fraud in the UK
* ‘Fraudster’ psychiatrist says certificates were gifts for family
* Fake Kiwi ‘doctor’ denies forging medical degree certificate
* Fake Kiwi ‘doctor’ practised in the UK for 19 years, court hears

Judge Manley said the lack of a simple check by the General Medical Council (GMC) – which decides whether a doctor is qualified to practise in the UK – showed an abject failure of scrutiny which Alemi benefited from.

The basic spelling and grammar mistakes in a forged letter and the degree should have warranted a phone call or letter to Auckland University, Judge Manley said.

Alemi moved around a lot in her time with the NHS, taking short-term positions as a locum “to ensure the finger of suspicion didn’t have a chance to point at you”, Judge Manley said.

Of grave concern to Judge Manley was the fact Alemi was able to detain patients against their will and prescribe powerful and dangerous drugs.

Judge Manley said Alemi was “highly manipulative and cunning” and even throughout the trial she tried to portray every prosecution witness as inept and dishonest.

Prosecutor Christopher Stables submitted that there was a prolonged impact on NHS trusts across the United Kingdom, many of which are publicly funded, which could have lead to loss of trust in the NHS.

“A large number of vulnerable patients have been ‘treated’ by this unqualified defendant,” Stables said.

The court heard the prosecution wished to commence confiscation proceedings in relation to Alemi’s three homes in England and Northern Ireland and two pieces of land.

Alemi was previously jailed for fraud and theft in 2018 after she was found to have doctored an elderly dementia patient’s will in west Cumbria in an attempt to inherit the pensioner’s £1.3 million (NZ$2.4 million) estate.

Had the truth been known back then about her false qualifications, Stables submitted that sentence would have been much higher.

Defence lawyer Francis Fitzgibbon KC submitted it was not for Judge Manley to take into account the unknown factors in this case – such as the quality of care Alemi gave to her patients.

The court heard Alemi had written a letter to the court detailing her struggles in prison and has autism.

“Prison for someone with her characteristics is particularly onerous,” Fitzgibbon said.

He submitted that Alemi is alone with no family in the country.

Alemi was born in Tehran, Iran in around 1967, arriving in New Zealand in 1986.

She then enroled at the University of Auckland’s School of Medicine, studying a Bachelor of Human Biology, in 1988. She failed that year, but completed the degree in 1992.

Alemi failed the first and second years of a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB), which is required to be a doctor.

By April 1995, Alemi was living in Winchester in the UK and sent a forged degree to the General Medical Council (GMC), which decides whether a doctor is qualified to practise in the UK.

Between 1998 and 2017, Alemi was employed by the NHS and worked at various health bodies and trusts across the United Kingdom and was paid more than $2 million.

Stuff previously reported Alemi was investigated by medical authorities in the UK multiple times, dating back to 1998.

Judge Manley was critical of the GMC, calling for a thorough and open inquiry as to how Alemi was able to submit such false documents without the most basic checks, why it took a journalist to uncover the truth after she was convicted in 2018 and why a representative of the GMC provided conflicting evidence at trial saying there were rigorous checks.

The GMC previously told Stuff that, in the 1990s, the documents were not subject to the rigorous checks that are now in place.

“We are very sorry that Zholia Alemi was able to join our medical register in the 1990s, based on fraudulent documentation, and for any risk arising to patients as a result,” GMC director of registration and revalidation Una Lane said.

“Patients deserve good care from appropriately-qualified professionals and place a great deal of trust in doctors. To exploit that trust and the respected name of the profession is abhorrent.

“It is clear that in this case the steps taken almost three decades ago were inadequate. We are confident that, 27 years on, our systems are robust.”