Fraudster GUILTY of posing as a doctor for over twenty years after faking degree certificate

A fraudster had been found GUILTY of posing as a qualified doctor for over twenty years and being paid over £1 million by the NHS after forging a degree certificate. Zholia Alemi, who is believed to be 60, forged the document, along with a letter of verification and handed it to the General Medical Council, the public body responsible for maintaining the official register of general practitioners in the UK.

Alemi, of Burnley, who is already convicted of fraud ‘held herself out and practised as a doctor of medicine’, though she had never passed or achieved the relevant university qualification and was not a properly qualified doctor.

“She is, say the prosecution, a most accomplished forger and fraudster, but has no qualification that would allow her to be called, or in any way to be properly regarded as, a doctor,” Mr Stables said.

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During a trial at Manchester Crown Court, jurors heard of two documents which Alemi falsified: namely a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Auckland, more commonly abbreviated to MBChB dated 1992; and a letter of verification written by the Faculty Registrar at the university, based in New Zealand.

She applied for registration to be a doctor in the UK using the ‘Commonwealth Route’ through the GMC using these falsified documents and then obtained work either through the NHS, or through recruitment agencies, in various positions ranging from locum positions to permanent posts.

“As you will see, the defendant has held posts and has been paid as a doctor by health trusts and authorities across the length and breadth of the country,” the prosecutor