A diving centre boss and instructor face jail after attempting to defraud the NHS of £250,000 by falsely claiming to have treated divers for decompression treatment in Plymouth, Devon.
A diving centre boss and instructor face jail after attempting to defraud the NHS of £250,000 by falsely claiming to have treated divers for decompression treatment in Plymouth, Devon. David Welsh, 50, of Plymstock, and diving instructor Michael Brass, 43, from Liverpool billed health trusts across Britain for supposed treatment at Plymouth's Fort Bovisand dive centre.
Plymouth Crown Court heard that genuine names, addresses, dates of birth and national insurance numbers were used, however, those people had never suffered decompression or had been treated at the hyperbaric chamber. Welsh and Brass had made bogus claims to 12 health trusts for 37 patients who were supposedly treated at the centre between June 1998 and June 2002, the court was told.
Michael Fitton QC, prosecuting said David Welsh was at 'the heart' of the fraud. 'As long as it appeared on the face of it to be in order, the NHS paid out readily,' Fitton told the court. 'It is very easy money. It was a brazen dishonesty. We do not suggest real divers with real conditions were not also treated, but we are dealing here with a fraud arising from cases where there was no illness and no bends.'
The two, who will be sentenced in September, denied the charges. David Welsh's brother Raymond Welsh, 47, of Harlow, Essex and diver James Chandler, 43, from Liverpool were cleared by the jury of any involvement in the case.
Judge Ian Leeming, QC, said both David Welsh and Brass face probable jail terms.
Plymouth-based Diving Diseases Research Centre (DDRC) issued a statement to make it clear it had no involvement with the accused and the Fort Bovisand centre. 'It's not that much of a stretch of the imagination for people to read hyperbaric chambers, Plymouth and fraud in the same sentence and jump to a completely wrong conclusion,' said DDRC operation director Peter Atkey. 'It could easily lead to mistaken identity with some serious consequences for DDRC and its impeccable reputation.'
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Dive centre manager jailed A diving centre boss has been jailed for attempting to defraud the NHS of £250,000 by falsely claiming to have treated divers for decompression treatment in Plymouth, Devon.
