Statutory Committee

NHS fraudster unlikely to be allowed to practise again more

Restoration refused to man lacking “required standards of integrity” more

NHS fraudster unlikely to be allowed to practise again

A former pharmacist convicted of defrauding the NHS of more than £250,000 has been told by the Statutory Committee that he is unlikely to be allowed to practise again.

Bernard Masters, of 135 Ladbroke Grove, London W11, was let out of Ford Open Prison, where he was serving a three-year sentence, to appear before the committee on 9 August 2004. That committee resolved that his name, which had been removed from the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists in May 2004 for non-payment of fees, should not be restored.

The committee made no order in relation to Clifford Evans (Ladbroke Grove) Ltd, a pharmacy company of which Mr Masters is a director and joint owner with his pharmacist wife Ann.

The committee heard that Mr Masters had been convicted on 13 March 2003 of eight specimen counts of furnishing false information. On 7 July 2003 he was convicted of a further three counts relating to three bogus prescriptions he had submitted for payment while on bail for the earlier offences. On 28 July 2003 he had been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on each of the 11 counts. In respect of the 13 March convictions he had been ordered to pay compensation of £263,852 to the NHS, with three years’ imprisonment in default, and £645 prosecution costs. A confiscation order was made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 for £259,183. In respect of the 7 July convictions, 15 additional offences under section 17(1)(b) of the Theft Act 1968 were taken into consideration.

The committee heard that Mr Masters had altered prescriptions to increase their value over a period of almost three years. Kristina Stern, for the Society, gave an example of a prescription for 10 dressings which Masters changed to read 30, giving him an additional payment of just under £40. She said during one month Mr Masters had profited by £81,463.

Miss Stern said that Mr Masters had previously been struck from the register for a similar conviction more than 20 years ago.

Referring to a probation officer’s report, she added: “He accepted he was motivated by greed and what he had done was a serious breach of trust.”

DC Frank Thompson, of the Metropolitan Police drugs inspectorate, said he became aware of an unusually high number of altered prescriptions from the pharmacy when investigating an unrelated matter. In interview Mr Masters admitted changing the prescriptions to help his business.

DC Thompson said there was no evidence that Mrs Masters knew of the fraud.

David Reissner, for Mr Masters, said that all but £95,770 of the £263,352 compensation ordered by the courts had been paid. The balance would be paid from the proceeds of the sale of the business.

Giving the committee’s decision in relation to Mr Masters, chairman Lord Fraser of Carmillie said: “We give the direction that his name should not be restored to the register. … It is not the custom of this committee to set out any time limit, but … at his age, Mr Masters should not be hopeful that we would ever direct restoration of his name to the Register.”

Giving his decision in relation to the company, Lord Fraser said: “Mrs Masters has 50 per cent of the shares and we cannot properly have any desire to punish an innocent party.” The committee would make no order against the company in view of an assurance that the balance of the compensation would be paid on the sale of the business.

Restoration refused to man lacking “required standards of integrity”

A former pharmacist who swindled a building society of more than £250,000 has failed in his bid to be restored to the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists. The committee decided that Yash Pal Kansal, of 98 Danes Way, Brentwood, Essex, had not “come up to the standards of integrity and honesty required of the profession”.

In 1988 Mr Kansal had borrowed sums of £150,000 and £116,000 from the Halifax Building Society without telling it that he had recently been made bankrupt. On 18 February 1992, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, he had been convicted of two offences of obtaining property by deception, one of removing property while bankrupt and one of failing to account for property while bankrupt. He was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment.

The police failed to notify the Society of Mr Kansal’s convictions and it only learnt of them in 1994. At an inquiry in 1995 (PJ, 30 September 1995, p415), the Statutory Committee ordered the removal of his name from the register and, after an unsuccessful appeal against the committee’s decision, his name was removed in July 1996.

In 2001, the Court of Appeal quashed his convictions but the Crown successfully appealed to the House of Lords and they were reinstated.

Mr Kansal also went to the European Court of Human Rights over his trial on the loan swindle. In April 2004 the court found that his right to a fair trial had been infringed in his original trial over the loans. However, the matter had not been referred back to the English courts and the convictions therefore still stood.

The application for restoration was heard on 12 August 2004. The committee was reminded that the conviction for removing property while bankrupt related to a sum of £104,000 in cash being taken to India in a black bin liner by Mr Kansal’s then wife.

Mr Kansal had claimed he did not know the conditions of being made bankrupt and had been badly advised. But Philip Gaisford, for the Society, said it was clear that Mr Kansal had understood the conditions because he had asked his solicitors to get them set aside.

He said Mr Kansal got his wife to take the money out of the country to prevent his creditors getting at it.

The committee was also told that in 1997 Mr Kansal was discovered working as a pharmacist when an inspector visited a pharmacy where he had been employed by a relative. He was found to have dispensed five prescriptions earlier in the day, including four for methadone.

Mr Kansal was prosecuted and received an absolute discharge for purporting to be a pharmacist and was fined a total of £1,250 for unlawfully supplying the prescriptions.

Mr Gaisford said that in December 1997 Mr Kansal obtained membership of the College of Pharmacy Practice using his former registration number. But the CPP soon discovered he was not on the register and cancelled it.

Mr Gaisford told the committee: “There has still been no coherent explanation about the £104,000 pounds removed from the country.”

Giving evidence, Mr Kansal denied responsibility. He said: “It was taken to India to pay a debt to my ex-wife’s family when my business ran into financial difficulties. It was my wife’s idea and I have no control over her.”

Mr Kansal said he now accepted he had been dishonest, even though he had pleaded not guilty to all charges. “It’s not professional to do these things. I am ashamed of it,” he said. “I should have taken care of my liabilities.’

Mr Kansal, who had previously failed to have his name restored to the Register in 2002, told the hearing: “I find it difficult to come to terms with the fact that I have been struck off. I deluded myself.”

Delivering the committee’s verdict, Lord Fraser of Carmyllie said: ‘There appears to be some greater appreciation by Mr Kansal of these matters. But the fact is he allowed £104,000 to be taken out of the country with the result that creditors lost out on some £80,000. He still doesn’t appear to appreciate that that was quite unacceptable.

“He has not come up to the standards of integrity and honesty required of the profession and his application has therefore been refused.”