Pharmacist Rashad Arif jailed for £32,000 fraud

11:27am Friday 8th February 2013 in News By Darren Slade, Chief Reporter

Pharmacist jailed for £32,000 fraud Pharmacist jailed for £32,000 fraud

A PHARMACIST has been jailed after fraudulently claiming more than £32,000 from the NHS.

Rashad Arif, 34, committed the offences while working at the Riverside Winton Pharmacy in Wimborne Road, Bournemouth.

Arif, from High Wycombe, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud.

He was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court to eight months’ imprisonment for each offence, to run concurrently.

The court heard how Arif submitted stolen prescriptions for payment and forged others by changing the quantities of medication or details of the patients.

Detective Constable Steven May, of Bournemouth CID, said: “This is a despicable crime. Arif consciously and deliberately set out to steal a large amount of money from the NHS.

“The court has recognised the seriousness of this crime and has rightly handed him a custodial sentence.”

Comments(16)

paul.p says...
11:51am Fri 8 Feb 13

The tip of the Iceberg...

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Morrigan says...
12:05pm Fri 8 Feb 13

8 months inside - out in 3 or 4 and no mention of having to pay any of it back?

Crime certainly does pay ..... :o//

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the_baron1 says...
12:12pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Morrigan wrote:
8 months inside - out in 3 or 4 and no mention of having to pay any of it back?

Crime certainly does pay ..... :o//
"He was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court to eight months’ imprisonment for each offence, to run concurrently."

Not 8 months but 3 x 8 = 24 months. But agree that he will be out in less than a year. I wish that I earned £32000 in a year!

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scrumpyjack says...
12:27pm Fri 8 Feb 13

paul.p wrote:
The tip of the Iceberg...
Agreed.

Especially in certain sectors.

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BournemouthMum says...
12:27pm Fri 8 Feb 13

the_baron1 wrote:
Morrigan wrote:
8 months inside - out in 3 or 4 and no mention of having to pay any of it back?

Crime certainly does pay ..... :o//
"He was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court to eight months’ imprisonment for each offence, to run concurrently."

Not 8 months but 3 x 8 = 24 months. But agree that he will be out in less than a year. I wish that I earned £32000 in a year!
He got 8 months to run CONCURRENTLY - which means the sentences will run side by side, so he will only do 8 months with the usual half taken off for good behaviour/parole etc. The sentence would be 24 months if they were consecutive - which they're not.

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funkyferret says...
1:11pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Bournemouthmum - Yes, you are correct. 'Concurrently', not 'consecutively'.
Out by the summer then ...

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funkyferret says...
1:14pm Fri 8 Feb 13

Bournemouthmum - Yes, you are correct. It reads 'Concurrently' (at the samne time), not 'consecutively'.
Out by the summer then ...

I wonder if he committed the offences 'concurrently' ?

£32,000 for 8 months = £48,000 net pay p.a = annual gross salary of approx £72,000. (or half a chief constable).
and crime doesn't pay ????

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andydixon says...
1:36pm Fri 8 Feb 13

I'm glad someone understands basic english.

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Marcus James says...
1:36pm Fri 8 Feb 13

I personally think in view of the other sentence’s you regularly see for MUCH larger frauds and thefts that this is fairly balanced punishment.
No doubt he has lost his job and once released will lose his licence to practice?
Compare this with typical benefit fraud of £20 to £100k plus where the person never pays the money back and gets a community order and still lives in a council house!

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muscliffman says...
2:51pm Fri 8 Feb 13

paul.p wrote:
The tip of the Iceberg...
I so fear you are right.

The whole NHS system is evidently plagued with more than it's share of incompetent, criminal and lazy people - we are currently learning that the fast and hard way.

Indeed some staff with their wits about them may well be joining in with this sort of corruption, because they certainly don't seem to be doing much whistleblowing.

Oh dear.

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Azphreal says...
3:34pm Fri 8 Feb 13

If he changed the amount of the drugs or who they were given to why was he not also done for drug dealing (depending on what he gave out) As i know that my medication would be illegal to sell/give away.

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John T says...
5:56pm Fri 8 Feb 13

It's a good job he was not caught for speed and pleaded guilty. In that case, if his face didn't fit, many would think he should have a life sentence!

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John T says...
5:57pm Fri 8 Feb 13

It's a good job he was not caught for speed and pleaded guilty. In that case, if his face didn't fit, many would think he should have a life sentence!

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abystander says...
8:10am Sat 9 Feb 13

Well done to whoever picked this up. Pharmacists are generally well-educated and able to talk their way out of sticky situations. I recently changed my Dispensing Pharmacist because he was making unauthorithized changes to my script.

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downmoor-ch63 says...
10:57am Sat 9 Feb 13

BournemouthMum wrote:
the_baron1 wrote:
Morrigan wrote:
8 months inside - out in 3 or 4 and no mention of having to pay any of it back?

Crime certainly does pay ..... :o//
"He was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court to eight months’ imprisonment for each offence, to run concurrently."

Not 8 months but 3 x 8 = 24 months. But agree that he will be out in less than a year. I wish that I earned £32000 in a year!
He got 8 months to run CONCURRENTLY - which means the sentences will run side by side, so he will only do 8 months with the usual half taken off for good behaviour/parole etc. The sentence would be 24 months if they were consecutive - which they're not.
I am sure he was laughing all the way to jail, and who could blame him?, on, even if he serves the whole 8 months, thats still 1K A WEEK, HE SHOULD HAVE GOT 8 YEARS, just as a reminder to criminals of this, or any type of law breakers, that CRIME WILL NOT BE TOLERATED, NOR WILL IT PAY.

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lelbel says...
11:21am Sat 9 Feb 13

non english what a bloody surprise

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