Lincolnshire NHS money stolen in fraud recovered

A £1.28m payment to build a mental health unit at Lincoln's St George's Hospital was diverted when staff failed to check new bank details

More than £1m stolen from a health trust has been recovered through the Proceeds of Crime Act.

A £1.28m payment to build a mental health unit at Lincoln's St George's Hospital was diverted when staff failed to check new bank details supplied.

Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LPFT) was one of a number of public bodies targeted in the fraud.

An investigation by Lincolnshire Police found losses of £12m across a number of organisations.

In 2017, 10 conspirators were jailed for up to 10 years at Leicester Crown Court for their part in the fraud.

They took advantage of the fact that public sector contracts were freely available under financial transparency rules.

Another man, Bayo Awonorin, was jailed for nine-and-a-half years in January after being extradited from the US.

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The theft against the health trust was uncovered when an employee from building firm Costain saw a bogus letter, with its logo out of place, a fake reference number and signatures.

The trust called police at the end of 2011.

Det Sgt Mike Billam said he was "delighted" assets had been recovered and were "being used to compensate victims".

He said: "Recovering the stolen funds has always been a key objective in this investigation and so I am particularly pleased that LPFT has now received the full value of their loss which I know will be used to benefit our communities."

The fraudsters also targeted the States of Guernsey Government, Middlesbrough Council and Derby University.

The police said the process of recovering money defrauded from other public bodies was ongoing.