A doctor has been jailed for two years for submitting false medical claims adding up to £183,000 to solicitors acting in personal injury claims by road traffic accident victims.
Registered GP Benjamin Chang, 57, of Sunnyfield, Mill Hill, London, was found guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday of one count of fraud by false representation and for being in possession of articles for use in fraud and money laundering. He will also be subject to a confiscation order.
City of London Police said that Chang was employed to conduct medical exams on behalf of solicitors for people who were making PI claims.
Chang would make medical assessments through his medical agency, Hertford Healthcare, based in Milton Keynes. He would then invoice solicitors for the medical assessment and later send another invoice from a company called Proteus Healthcare, which he claimed had provided the patients with eight to 10 physiotherapy sessions following the initial assessment.
City of London Police said Proteus Healthcare did not exist and was registered to an address where another business, with no knowledge of Proteus, was operating. The physiotherapist who was supposed to have provided the treatment did not exist.
The fraud was exposed when a claimant who saw physiotherapy treatment provided by Proteus Healthcare listed as an item on their claim informed their solicitor that they had never received physiotherapy nor heard of Proteus Healthcare. The solicitor then notified the police.
City of London Police said further investigation revealed that Chang had invoiced the solicitors' firm for 18 claimants’ physiotherapy treatment provided by Proteus Healthcare. None of the claimants had received such treatment and three had not received a medical assessment from Chang.
Chang’s sentencing follows a three-year investigation by City of London Police’s insurance fraud enforcement department.
Detective constable Mick Jones, who led the investigation, said: ’Doctor Chang committed fraud for a number of years and completely abused his position to do so. The solicitors who employed Chang trusted him to provide a service for their claimants. Instead of doing this he bowed to his own greed and used the opportunity to make money that he simply wasn’t entitled to.’
He added: 'This extensive three-year investigation into Chang’s criminal behaviour took a team of officers all over the country as well as to Gibraltar, where we were able to unpick some of his financial wrongdoing.'
Doctor jailed after submitting false medical claims
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