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A former NHS manager has been jailed after pleading guilty to a fraud that fleeced more than £123,000 from his own NHS trust.
Alec Gandy set up ex-wife Kaylee Wright and friend Matthew Lane as a 'paramedic' and 'physician's assistant' in an accounting system in order to funnel them tens of thousands of pounds by invoicing himself for their non-existent services.
Dudley Integrated Health and Care Trust (DIHCT) duly paid the invoices over a nine-month period costing the tax-payer £123,090.
A judge heard significant portions of the money were then funnelled back to 42-year-old Gandy by co-defendants Wright and Lane.
Investigators established that Gandy spent more than £92,000 of the fraudulently obtained money on gambling activities and transferred a further £12,000 into a business he founded.
The court heard in a victim statement from the Trust's Director of Finance that the money could have paid for two real community paramedics for a year, four nursing associates or two clinical pharmacists over the same time period.
Gandy, a former Senior Operational Manager at DIHCT in the West Midlands, was jailed this afternoon for two-and-a-half years, while those beside him in the dock received custodial sentences.
Her Honour Judge Laura Hobson told him: 'The NHS is under more financial pressure than ever before. As someone working as a senior manager in that organisation, that would have been impressed upon you.
Alec Gandy, a former Senior Operational Manager at Dudley Integrated Health and Care Trust was jailed this afternoon for two-and-a-half years
'But seeing an opportunity you set up your co-defendants as fake employees and stole £123,000 which should have been spent on health services to benefit the community.
'It is not clear to me what it was spent on as you were winning almost as much as you were spending on gambling.
'This is money that has come from the pockets of tax-payers.'
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that Gandy was employed as a senior operations manager at the NHS Trust in April 2021.
Within a year he had hatched a plan to defraud the NHS and was messaging friends to act as money launderers.
Crown prosecutor Holly Kilbey read an exchange with one prospective accomplice, who ultimately declined to get involved.
Gandy wrote: 'So, effectively, every week you could be getting an extra £380 by not doing anything. That is £190 each, a 50/50 split.'
In a reference to a Black Country town served by the Trust, Gandy added: 'I get to spend more of Halesowen's money which makes me look good.'
His potential accomplice replied: 'You know that would be amazing and a dream but I am about to be a Dad and I don't fancy doing that from prison.'
Gandy then moved onto out of work Matthew Lane, 43, and his own ex-wife, and mother of his two children, Kaylee Wright, 38.
Between August 2022 and December 2023, Lane was given 23 separate payments while mother-of-four Wright received 12 payments over a six month period.
Illustrating the nature of the offending, Ms Kilbey said, 'In order for the payments to be made, he had to create fictitious invoices.
'In one he falsely set out that Kaylee Wright had worked five 10 hour shifts as a paramedic and had done a home visit. The invoice was for £2,050.'
The court heard that Gandy benefited by £72,815 from the fraud, while Lane and Wright accrued £37,160 and £13,115 respectively.
The crime came to light when towards the end of 2023, the Trust appointed a new deputy director of finance who ordered a reorganisation of people's roles.
Gandy left his job and the Trust then discovered that no-one had ever heard of Mr Lane, the physician's assistant or Ms Wright the paramedic.
Once the Trust identified suspected fraudulent activity, they alerted the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, which led the investigation.
Balbir Singh, defending, said that Gandy had not worked since leaving his job with the Trust and had tried to set up a small business.
He said that his client had 'equity in properties' which would enable him to pay back what he owed.
Gandy, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, had previously admitted pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position.
Lane, 44, a transport manager, of Evesham, Worcestershire, and Wright, 38, of Kidderminster, pleaded guilty to money laundering offences.
Lane was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work. Wright was handed an 18-month community order, plus a requirement to carry out 25 days of rehabilitation activity.
The Judge said Wright, a professional dog walker, was the least culpable and had been 'taken advantage of' by Gandy.
Ben Reid, Specialist Prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: 'This case represents a serious breach of trust that diverted vital NHS funds meant for patient care. Gandy abused his position of responsibility as a public servant, while Lane and Wright knowingly participated in the scheme to facilitate this fraud.
'Fraud is not victimless and when such crimes are committed, they have a range of impacts – in this case, not only was money defrauded from the Trust, but time and money had to be spent on an internal investigation.
'The sentences handed down today reflect the gravity of these offences against our public services. The CPS will continue to work closely with the NHS Counter Fraud Authority to ensure that those who seek to defraud the NHS are brought to justice.'
The CPS said it will pursue confiscation proceedings against Gandy to 'remove any available criminal benefits gained from this enterprise.'
Ben Harrison, Head of Operations at NHS Counter Fraud Authority, said: 'This outcome endorses the value of our robust and objective approach to ensuring that anyone who attempts to defraud the NHS is brought to justice.
'This was a calculated scheme that diverted significant public funds away from frontline patient care. Our investigation, with the support of West Mercia Police and the subsequent prosecution by colleagues at the Crown Prosecution Service revealed a deliberate abuse of position, with Gandy exploiting his senior role to manipulate NHS payment systems for personal gain
'The NHS Counter Fraud Authority remains firmly committed to protecting vital NHS resources and we will continue to pursue those who seek to defraud our health service.
'We encourage anyone with suspicions of fraud against the NHS to report it through our confidential reporting channels.'