₤66,000 NHS money recovered from fraudster by NHS CFS Wales

HOSPITAL Doctor Aled Meirion Jones, 39, has met a court deadline to pay back money he defrauded from his employer, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and other Hospitals in South Wales. The money arrived in 8 June 2021, the last possible day he could have paid up. The NHS Counter Fraud Service (Wales) led on this successful recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), following through on their recent fraud investigation and prosecution of the medic. Had he failed to pay up, Dr Jones, of Cardiff, would have faced the possibility of spending two years behind bars, instead of his suspended sentence. The Doctor's offending was 1st revealed thanks to a tipoff to NHS Counter Fraud Authority's Fraud and Corruption Reporting Line.

After abusing his position to defraud both the NHS and fellow medics, Jones pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court, on 9 March 2021, to 2 years' imprisonment, suspended for 2 years. He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work within 12 months. A mitigating factor in sentencing was his gambling addiction, which was designated as a medical condition.

Dr Jones diverted cheques to his own bank account that had been legitimately earned by other Doctors for their work to certify the cause of death before a person's body is released for cremation (at that time, certifying Doctors would receive a standard fee of ₤82 on each occasion).

These handwritten cheques from funeral homes across South Wales, each made out to the appropriate Doctor, were sent to the Bereavement Office at University Hospital Wales (UHW) for collection by the individuals. It came to light that the original payee's details on 27 of these cheques for ₤82.00 had been altered to:- "A JONES" and were then deposited into a bank account he controlled. In March 2019, Dr Jones was arrested at his workplace, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, with the assistance of South Wales Police.

Following his arrest, Dr Jones was interviewed under caution by specialist investigators for NHS CFS (Wales). He made full admissions to the theft of the cheques but denied any other wrongdoing. However, further enquiries revealed that between 2017 and 2019, Jones had stolen and altered numerous cheques worth ₤33,235.40; and submitted false claims for exaggerated hours and Locum shifts he did not work to a number of health boards in South Wales, totalling ₤33,148.07.

Cheryl Hill, Deputy Head of NHS Counter Fraud Service (Wales), said:- "The recovery of the ₤66,000 defrauded by Dr Aled Jones sends out a clear message to those who defraud the NHS. Individuals convicted of fraud will not be allowed to benefit from their criminal activity. Dr Jones stole cheques from his colleagues which related to bereavement costs and claimed for locum shifts he had not worked. Dr Jones' defence was that he defrauded the NHS in order to fund his gambling habit using funds meant for patient care. NHS Counter Fraud Service Wales Financial Investigators have used their powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to identify and recover this money. The defrauded money will now be returned to the public purse."

If you or someone you know is affected by gambling, help can be accessed through the NHS. Please click the following link for more details:- Help for problem gambling on:- NHS.UK.

If you suspect that anyone is committing fraud or another economic crime against the NHS, tell NHSCFA about it; you can visit our main website to report online: CFA.NHS.UK or telephone our 24 hour reporting line:- 08000284060.

Warning over hidden flood risk as buyers dash to beat stamp duty deadline

HOMEBUYERS are being left in the dark over their true exposure to flooding as official maps understate the flood risks properties face, it has been claimed. In the rush to beat the stamp duty deadline, homebuyers are being urged not to cut corners on flood checks amid concerns almost 530,000 properties face a hidden flood threat. Insurer Zurich, which carried out the analysis, claims households could be more exposed to flooding than they may think due to the official language used to communicate flood risk.

The Environment Agency currently reports flood risk based on the chances of an area flooding in any 1 year. It rates homes with a so called 1 in 100 year to a 1 in 30 year chance of flooding as being at:- "medium" risk. This means there is a 1% to 3.3% chance of a flood occurring in any single year. But Zurich has warned that when viewed over a typical 30 year mortgage, this equates to a 26% and a 63% likelihood of being flooded once in that period; a far greater risk than the current terminology suggests.

Zurich said this could leave homebuyers with a misleading impression of their flood risk and lull them into a false sense of security. There are 446,800 homes and 82,100 non-residential properties in England deemed to be at:- "medium" risk of flooding.

Kumu Kumar, Head of Zurich Resilience Solutions, the insurer's risk engineering arm, said:- "Predicting flood risk isn't a perfect science. While Environment Agency maps are a useful guide to flood risk, they can downplay the dangers some properties face. Amid the rush to complete sales ahead of the stamp duty deadline, it is important buyers don 't skip crucial checks to assess whether a home is in danger of flooding. As surveys aren't required to show the risks, the onus falls on buyers to find out whether a home lies in an area at risk of flooding. Buyers need to scrutinise the detail; or they could be hit by unexpected flooding."

Mary Dhonau, a flood resilience campaigner and expert, who has herself been flooded, said:- "I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to investigate the flood risk before a property is bought. I know of so many people who have been caught out. My recent research has shown me that the 1:100 term is not understood. People have said to me that they flooded twice, once in 2009 and again in 2015. They didn't expect to flood in 2015, as they 'd been told that the 2009 flood was a 1:100 year event."

Kumar added:- "As climate change intensifies the frequency and severity of extreme weather, it is vital that people can assess the true flood threat they face. The term a 1 in 100 year flood can give the misleading impression that a flood occurs once every 100 years; when in fact the risk is much higher. With a more accurate understanding of their flood risk, people can better prepare for extreme weather and make changes to their property to withstand flooding. The current approach for expressing flood risk is unclear and could lead people to conclude a property is safer than in fact it is. The Environment Agency should consider what more it can do to help people understand their flood threat. This could include expressing flood risk as a percentage over the typical lifetime of a mortgage."

The UK has been hit by a series of severe floods in recent years. 5 million people in the UK live in flood prone areas and 1 in 6 homes are at risk. Earlier this year, Zurich announced it is offering free counselling to customers hit by flooding as it warned of the devastating impact of extreme weather on mental health.