A native of Iran worked as a psychiatrist for 20 years using a fake diploma

Fake psychiatrist from Britain deceived the system for over 20 years: court ordered to return £400 thousand of illegal earnings

As reported by TUT.AZ with reference to Gazeta.ru, Iranian-born Zholia Alemi, who posed as a psychiatrist, practiced throughout Great Britain for decades with a fake diploma from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. The woman did indeed study at this educational institution in the 1990s, however, she never received the bachelor's degrees in medicine and surgery necessary for medical practice after being denied the opportunity to retake an exam.

Despite the lack of qualifications, Alemi managed to mislead the General Medical Council (GMC) and obtain an official license to provide medical services. In 2023, a jury sentenced her to seven years in prison for 20 different crimes, including document falsification. Notably, the 62-year-old fraudster still refuses to admit her guilt.

During a recent court hearing, Alemi was also found guilty of "fraud against the state budget." The investigation established that during her time working for the National Health Service of England (NHS), she illegally received more than £1.3 million. Now the court has ordered the scammer to return £406 thousand to the state treasury as compensation to the NHS. If this amount is not paid, her prison term will be increased by another two and a half years.