A fraudster who drew up fake doctor qualifications twice so he could work in a top end NHS job has been jailed.

Conrad de Souza, 57, of Fulham, admitted he lied about his medical qualifications after being caught by an NHS Protect fraud team.

This included falsifying his employment history and qualifications in an attempt to secure senior health roles.

This enabled him to work in well-paid roles in clinical strategy for Lewisham Primary Care Trust (PCT) between from 2001 and 2010, receiving more than £329,000 of NHS money in fraudulently obtained earnings.

He had previously been jailed for more than two years and told to repay the NHS £270,000 after falsely claiming he was a qualified doctor.

nhs
Conrad de Souza, 57, of Fulham, admitted he lied about his medical qualifications twice

The British citizen enrolled at the University of London medical school in 1980 but never graduated.

He was sentenced to prison for 17 months on Thursday January 12 after pleading guilty to six charges of fraud in December 2016.

De Souza pleaded guilty to six charges of fraud on the first day of his trial at Croydon Crown Court.

Arslan Khan, Specialist Prosecutor from the CPS Specialist Fraud Division, said:

"The prosecution built a case which showed how Conrad de Souza lied time and again in order to attempt to secure a number of senior health roles.

"De Souza carried on telling these lies despite a previous conviction and prison sentence for similar fraudulent behaviour.

"Faced with the evidence against him, he pleaded guilty."

He admitted the following charges:

  • On September 24 2013 he dishonestly made false representations to the Office for Public Management (OPM) for the post of fellow in health, about his employment and qualifications
  • On October 31 2013 he dishonestly made false representations to Slough Borough Council for the post of head of service, Care Commissioning Group, about his previous convictions, employment and qualifications
  • On February 6 2014 he dishonestly made false representations to Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead Clinical Commissioning Group and to C4H Resourcing for the post of interim director of development commissioning about his previous employment and qualifications
  • Between June 6 to June 12 2014 he dishonestly made false representations to Surrey Health Clinical Commissioning Group and to C4H Resourcing for the post of transformation programme manager about his previous convictions, employment and qualifications
  • On June 27 2014 he dishonestly made false representations to the OPM for the post of consultant in health about his employment and qualifications
  • Between August 12 2013 and May 26 2014 he dishonestly made eight representations to the recruitment agency Dearden Interim about his qualifications and previous convictions

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