PLYMOUTH, UK (6 August 2008) — A Plymouth businessman who helped swindle the NHS out of £250,000 in an ingenious scam is facing a jail sentence. David Welsh, the former boss of the Fort Hyperbaric diving disease treatment centre at Fort Bovisand, submitted dozens of false claims to NHS trusts all around the country. Yesterday at Plymouth Crown Court, Welsh and veteran diving instructor Michael Brass were both found guilty of conspiring to defraud the NHS and conspiring to pervert the course of justice. The scam involved Welsh and his co-conspirators obtaining the details of individuals and sending in claims for £6,500 a time in their names, claiming they were divers had been treated for the 'bends'. But many of the people had never been to Fort Bovisand, never dived and never received hyperbaric treatment. In some cases, people in pubs were tempted by £200 cash payments to hand over their name and address, doctor's details and National Insurance number. In other cases, people's details were obtained without their knowledge. Together with his associates Welsh, aged 51 from Pomphlett Road, Plymstock, then fabricated false diving reports and fake hyperbaric treatment details. They netted around £250,000 over four years through the simple scheme. But it all fell apart after one of the gang, Anthony Walker, blew the whistle after a retiring GP found incriminating copies of papers while clearing out a cupboard. Welsh claimed throughout that he was merely a clerk who compiled the claims from details supplied to him by other people. He said his paperwork, which would have proved his innocence, had been stored at Fort Bovisand, but had been removed. He also focussed attention on Ross Noble, who was formerly involved in the business. Mr Noble suddenly finished with his girlfriend by text message, saying he was going abroad and never coming back, the court heard. Mr Noble is currently believed to be in the Middle East. The unanimous guilty verdicts came at the end of a six-week trial at Plymouth Crown Court. Welsh, 51, his brother Raymond Welsh, 49, of Harlow, Essex, and Michael Brass, 44, from Liverpool, had all denied a charge of conspiracy to defraud between June 12, 1998, and June 18, 2002. | | A jury of six men and five women found dive industry insiders David Welsh and Michael Brass guilty of swindling nearly half million dollars in bogus hyperbaric treatment claims from the NHS. Co-conspirator Anthony Walker pleaded guilty and will be sentenced with Welsh and Brass possibly as early as mid-September. David Welsh, Brass and James Chandler, 43, who is also from Liverpool, also denied conspiracy to pervert the course of justice between July 10 and October 2, 2002. Raymond Welsh was found not guilty and immediately freed. Chandler was sentenced to 40 days' jail for breaching his bail by failing to turn up for the first day of the trial, but was also released as he had spent the whole of the trial in custody. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Brass, who was not in court yesterday; his barrister told the court Brass's father was ill and he had gone to be with him. David Welsh sat impassive in the dock as the guilty verdicts were returned, his brother and James Chandler leaving the court without comment. David Welsh, Brass and co-conspirator Anthony Walker, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing, will all be sentenced together, possibly in mid-September. A judge will have to decide how large a part was played by each man in the massive scam. |
