Zholia Alemi, a woman who had been falsely claiming to be a qualified psychiatrist for over two decades, has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Manchester Crown Court heard that Alemi had been working across the UK after claiming to have obtained a medical degree from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She was found guilty of 13 counts of fraud, three of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, two of forgery and two of using a false instrument.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Hilary Manley called for an inquiry to be held into how the General Medical Council (GMC) registered Alemi as a doctor in 1995, despite the documents she submitted being “clearly false”. It was revealed that Alemi had started studying to be a doctor in New Zealand in the early 1990s but had not finished her course. Nevertheless, she managed to work as a consultant clinical psychologist.
The court heard that Alemi had earned up to £1.3 million in wages from the NHS, which she obtained fraudulently due to her falsified documents. The truth was uncovered in 2018 when Alemi was convicted at Carlisle Crown Court of attempting to forge the will and powers of attorney of an 84-year-old widow from Keswick. An investigative journalist then made phone calls to New Zealand which established the truth, prompting an investigation by Cumbria Police.
The prosecution told the judge that Alemi’s offences are likely to have led to a loss of confidence in the NHS and “a large number of vulnerable patients have at least been put at risk by being ‘treated’ by this entirely unqualified defendant”. Following her conviction, the GMC apologised for its “inadequate” checks in the 1990s and began an urgent check of about 3,000 foreign doctors working in the UK.
Una Lane, director of registration and revalidation at the GMC, said: “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. Our processes are far stronger now, with rigorous testing in place to make sure those joining the register are fit to work in the UK. 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.”
Zholia Alemi has been sentenced to seven years in prison for falsely claiming to be a qualified psychiatrist for over two decades. Manchester Crown Court heard that Alemi had been working across the UK after submitting forged documents to the General Medical Council (GMC). She was found guilty of 13 counts of fraud, three of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, two of forgery and two of using a false instrument.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Hilary Manley called for an inquiry into how Alemi was registered as a doctor by the GMC despite her documents being “clearly false”. It was revealed that Alemi had started studying to be a doctor in New Zealand in the early 1990s but had not finished her course. Nevertheless, she managed to work as a consultant clinical psychologist and earn up to £1.3 million in wages from the NHS fraudulently.
The truth was uncovered in 2018 when Alemi was convicted at Carlisle Crown Court of attempting to forge the will and powers of attorney of an 84-year-old widow from Keswick. An investigative journalist then made phone calls to New Zealand which established the truth, prompting an investigation by Cumbria Police. The prosecution told the judge that Alemi’s offences are likely to have led to a loss of confidence in the NHS and put “a large number of vulnerable patients at risk”.
Following her conviction, the GMC apologised for its “inadequate” checks in the 1990s and began an urgent check of about 3,000 foreign doctors working in the UK. Una Lane, director of registration and revalidation at the GMC, said: “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. Our processes are far stronger now, with rigorous testing in place to make sure those joining the register are fit to work in the UK. 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.”