Home / Crime and Justice / NHS Manager Jailed for Gambling-Fueled £120k Fraud
NHS Manager Jailed for Gambling-Fueled £120k Fraud
17 Jan
Summary
- Manager siphoned over £120,000 from NHS trust.
- Fraud fueled by a gambling addiction was orchestrated over 16 months.
- Stolen funds could have paid four nursing associates for a year.
An NHS manager responsible for a significant fraud has been sentenced to prison. Alec Gandy, a senior manager at Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust, orchestrated a scheme to divert over £123,000 by creating fictitious worker roles and authorising payments into these accounts. The investigation revealed that a substantial portion of these funds, exceeding £92,000, was used to feed Gandy's gambling addiction, with an additional £12,000 channeled into his own businesses over a 16-month period starting in August 2022.
The illicit activity was uncovered by the trust, prompting an investigation by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority after Gandy had departed from his position. A statement from the trust's director of finance highlighted the severe impact of the theft, noting the funds could have enhanced patient care by covering the annual salaries of four nursing associates. Gandy was sentenced to two-and-a-half years imprisonment at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday, having pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position.
Gandy's associates, Matthew Lane and Kaylee Wright, who facilitated the money laundering aspect of the fraud, received respective sentences of a suspended 12-month prison term with unpaid work and an 18-month community order with rehabilitation activities. Prosecutors emphasized the breach of trust and the diversion of vital patient care funds, underscoring that such fraud causes significant financial loss and demands extensive investigations, with confiscation proceedings now being pursued against Gandy.
