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

A psychiatrist from Great Britain worked with a fake diploma for more than 20 years. The court ordered her to return £400 thousand.

As reported by BAKU.WS with reference to Gazeta.ru, Iranian-born Zholia Alemi, who posed as a psychiatrist, worked for decades throughout Great Britain after forging a diploma from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She did actually study there in the 1990s, but did not receive the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees required for medical practice, as she was denied permission to retake the exam.

Nevertheless, Alemi managed to convince the General Medical Council (GMC) of her competence and obtain a license to provide medical services. Back in 2023, a jury sentenced her to seven years in prison on charges of 20 crimes, including document forgery. The 62-year-old woman never admitted her guilt.

Recently, the court also found her guilty of "fraud against the state budget." During the trial, it was revealed that over the years of working in the National Health Service of England (NHS), Alemi earned more than £1.3 million. Now she must return £406 thousand to the treasury as compensation to the NHS or spend another two and a half years in prison.