Fake Lancashire NHS psychiatrist with forged medical degree ordered to pay back over £400,000

Lancashire-based Zholia Alemi, 63, was handed a Confiscation Order to pay back a large chunk of the £1 million she earned as income when posing as a fake doctor or face two and half years added to her sentence.

It comes just two years after she was put behind bars for falsely claiming to hold a medical degree from the University of Auckland in New Zealand when she came to work in the UK in 1992. In 2023 it was was revealed she had actually dropped out of the five-year medical training course after failing her first year.

Following a failure from the General Medical Council (GMC) to vet her documentation properly, Alemi was free to treat thousands of mental health patients in the NHS for decades.

Alemi was found guilty of 13 counts of fraud, two counts of forgery, three counts of deception and two counts of using material to falsify medical qualifications at Manchester Crown Court where she was sentenced to seven years.

Speaking on the Confiscation Order Adrian Foster of the Crown Prosecution said: “We have robustly pursued the proceeds of crime with Cumbria Police and have identified all the assets that she has available to pay her order.

“Alemi had little regard for patient welfare. She used forged New Zealand medical qualifications to obtain employment as an NHS psychiatrist for 20 years. In doing so she must have treated hundreds of patients when she was unqualified to do so potentially putting them at risk.

“Her fraudulent actions also enabled her to dishonestly earn income and benefits more than £1 million to which she was not entitled. She cheated the public purse and £406,624 will be paid in compensation to the NHS.”

In total Alemi, of Burnley, cheated £1,204,819.30 from British taxpayers. Earlier this week, she received the Confiscation Order for £406,624 which is payable within three months. If it isn't paid a default period of imprisonment was set by the judge at two and half years.

In 2023 it was revealed Alemi didn't have the necessary qualifications to be working as a psychiatrist in the NHS. During the investigation Cumbria Police obtained evidence which proved that Alemi forged her medical qualifications she claimed gained at the University of Auckland to gain entry to the General Medical Council register.

Alemi managed to join the medical register in the UK under a section of the Medical Act which was discontinued in 2003. The legislation allowed graduates from medical schools in certain Commonwealth countries - including New Zealand - to obtain registration to practise in the UK based on a qualification in their originating country.

As a result, Alemi did not have to sit and pass the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board exam (PLAB), an assessment of skills which is usually required of doctors who qualified abroad.

Adrian Foster also said: “In the last five years, over £478 million has been recovered from CPS-obtained Confiscation Orders, ensuring that thousands of convicted criminals cannot profit from their offending.

"Of that £95 million of that amount has been returned to victims of crime, by way of compensation.”