Bogus NHS dentist made up to £162,000 from con

A bogus dentist who used false qualifications to get jobs in the NHS made up to £162,000 from the scam, a court heard today.

Former Wolverhampton Girls High School pupil Vinisha Sharma was jailed for three years in March for fraud and forgery.

A proceeds of crime hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court today heard it was now agreed her benefit from the con totalled between £156,000 and £162,000. But there is still confusion over exactly what happened to all the money.

The doubts over where the money went will determine how much the 37-year-old will paid back.

Investigations now centre on a Barclays Bank account into which the salary of Sharma, of Honeybourne Way in Willenhall, was paid while she was fraudulently working for seven NHS trusts in nine years.

This included an eight-month stint at New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton.

The bank account was in the name of her mother and there are fears that it was used to "hide" some of her illegal earnings by making "tainted gifts" to her mo-ther, it was revealed today.

Prosecutor Mr Andrew Evans said the defence had been late in giving details of the finances of Sharma and added: "We want to check the use of that account for specific transactions for which we have finally had details."

Mr Harpreet Sandhu, defending, said: "The benefit to the defendant is now agreed to being either £156,000 or £162,000."

Judge Amjad Nawaz said he hoped that after "mature reflection", similar agreement could be reached over the alleged "tainted gifts".

He ruled that the proceeds of crime hearing should be concluded in a one-day hearing on May 21 next year.

Sharma is still serving her sentence imposed after she used a fake Bachelor of Dental Surgery Degree from India to get work in this country after dropping out of a dentistry course.