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In a shocking breach of trust, a woman who failed her medical exams in New Zealand managed to work as a psychiatrist for more than two decades in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). She forged documents, lied about her qualifications, and treated thousands of patients, all without a valid medical degree.
How It All Started
Zholia Alemi, originally from Auckland, New Zealand, had failed to complete her MBBS degree and was not allowed to retake the exam. But instead of giving up, she forged her documents, including a fake degree and a reference letter to register as a doctor with the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC) in the year 1995.
Shockingly, she did not even hold a basic medical qualification. Yet, she managed to bypass all verification checks.
She misspelled the word “verify” in one of her forged documents. Despite the clear red flags like poor formatting and spelling mistakes, her application was accepted.
A 20-Year Career Built on Lies
Alemi managed to build a 20-year-long career as a psychiatrist, treating hundreds of vulnerable patients across various NHS trusts in the UK. She prescribed medications, offered therapy, and handled sensitive mental health cases, without ever being properly qualified.
Alemi had earned more than £1.3 million in wages from the NHS.
Her case was only uncovered in 2018 when she was caught forging a will to inherit the house and £3 lakh in cash from an 84-year-old woman. That investigation eventually exposed the bigger fraud. She was sentenced to five years in jail for that fraud, which triggered a wider investigation into her qualifications.
"Alemi had little regard for patient welfare. She used forged New Zealand medical qualifications to obtain employment as an NHS psychiatrist for 20 years. In doing so, she must have treated hundreds of patients when she was unqualified to do so, potentially putting those patients at risk," said Adrian Foster, Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
What Happened After Her Conviction
The 62-year-old, Zholia Alemi, had denied all 20 charges, including forgery. But in 2023, a jury at Manchester Crown Court found her guilty, and she was sentenced to seven years in jail.
But that’s not all.
She was also ordered to return over £4 lakh to the NHS as compensation. If she fails to pay, she could spend another two and a half years in prison. Officials said she had “cheated the public purse,” and they have worked to identify all her assets to recover money.
GMC’s Response
After her conviction, the General Medical Council (GMC) admitted that it had failed to properly check her documents in the 1990s. They apologized and started reviewing the records of around 3,000 foreign-trained doctors working in the UK.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Pooja Bansal/MSM)
