Man to be jailed over ?400,000 NHS fraud

A financier who defrauded the NHS of nearly ?400,000 was told today he would be jailed.

Peter Nicol posed as the head of a multimillion-pound business empire to con 18 hospitals out of the money.

The fraudster, 51, who in reality operated from a poky office, assured the hospital trusts he could arrange bargain leases for medical equipment.

But NHS finance chiefs never suspected Nicol had extended payment terms so he could bank differences of up to ?54,000 a time.

The jury trying the case, at Southwark crown court, south London, took five days to decide Nicol, of Spring Hill in East Kilbride, was guilty of serious fraud.

Judge Andrew Grimer told him: "In the light of the jury's verdict and the way the case was presented, you stand convicted of serious and substantial offences of fraud.

The judge adjourned sentence until Friday and told Nicol he would be remanded in custody in the meantime.

"I've come to the conclusion that the nature of the offending is such that a prison sentence is inevitable here," he said.