Leeds husband and wife who defrauded NHS have assets worth nearly £600,000 stripped

Neil Wood, 42, and Lisa Wood, 41, appeared at Leeds Crown Court yesterday, where a confiscation order was made for £598,720. The confiscated funds will all be returned to the NHS as compensation.

To meet the order, the couple will have to sell a property in Meanwood worth between £1m and £2m and pay in excess of £332,000 from frozen bank accounts. Unless the money is paid within three months, the court imposed custodial sentences totalling six years.

The couple were sentenced in January 2016 following a two-year investigation by the North East Regional Asset Recovery Team in to the tendering process for training contracts and fraudulent expense claims by NHS employee Neil Wood over a seven-year period while working at Leeds and York Partnership Trust and NHS England.

Money in the form of "kick-backs" was circuitously paid to Neil Wood via a company controlled by his wife Lisa Wood.

Neil Wood pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by abuse of position, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and was sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment.

Lisa Wood pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and 150 hours of community service.

Confiscation orders have previously been made against two other individuals in connection with the North East Regional Asset Recovery Team’s investigation, with confiscated funds totalling £843,460 now due to be paid in compensation to the NHS.

Senior Financial Investigator Dermot Fairhurst, of the North East Regional Asset Recovery Team, said: “Those committing fraud within public services will be identified, put before the courts and face robust confiscation action.

“It is particularly galling that corrupt officials working within the public sector chose to enrich themselves at the public’s expense at a time when NHS budgets are already stretched.

"I’m pleased that the confiscated funds will be paid back to the NHS by way of compensation.”