NHS boss took £123k to feed gambling habit

FRAUDSTER'S BOGUS INVOICES AND FAKE PAYMENTS AT TRUST

- ANNABAL BAGDI News Reporter

A SHAMELESS fraudster who swindled more than £123,000 from a Midlands NHS trust to feed his gambling habit has been locked up.

Greedy Dudley NHS boss Alec Gandy created bogus invoices and authorised fake payments so he could get his hands on cash that wasn’t his.

The 43-year-old involved his exwife, Kaylee Wright, along with friend and ex-Royal Marine Matthew Lane, setting them up as “fictitious” workers so that money could be directly paid to them for work they never carried out.

His 18-month racket allowed him to pocket cash that could have been used to fund nursing or other staff within the community.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how Gandy worked as senior operational manager at the now dissolved Dudley Integrated Health and Care Trust between April 2021 and May 2023.

As part of his role, he managed temporary staff and services, prosecutor Holly Kilbey said.

It meant he was able to authorise invoices for payments, submitting them through the financial ledger before they were fulfilled and paid by NHS England.

In August 2022, Gandy emailed a senior finance manager, asking him to create a new ‘supplier’ in Lane's name.