A St Albans-based hospital staff member has been found guilty of taking bribes from medical companies.
Hasan Abusheika, 47, was a theatre manager for St Albans City Hospital Trust, and took money from businesses to ensure they would be the preferred option for his NHS trust to buy equipment from.
Following an investigation from the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (CFA), a search of Abusheika’s home also found £65,000 worth of medical items stolen from the trust.
On March 7, following a seven-week trial at St Albans Crown Court, Abusheika was found guilty of several offences under the Theft, Fraud and Bribery Acts. He was remanded in custod to be sentenced at a later date.
He was tried alongside Elmo Emanuel, who was the CEO of Implants International and Xtremity Solutions Ltd. He was found guilty of bribing Abusheika.
A third man, Jawid Khan, had already pleaded guilty to a bribery charge before the trial began. Together, the total value of all of the offences was found to be more than £600,000.
Following the verdict, NHS CFA senior fraud investigator, Gemma Quemby, said: “We are pleased that we were able to work with our colleagues from the Crown Prosecution Service to put evidence before the court to show the full extent of the criminality of those involved.”
A trust spokesperson said: “We are grateful for the action taken by NHS Counter Fraud Authority and for the time and considered judgement of the jurors.
We will always alert and work in partnership with our NHS CFA colleagues if we suspect that public money is being diverted for personal gain.”
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