A United Kingdom court has sentenced a Nigerian doctor, Richard Akinrolabu, to three years in prison for defrauding the National Health Service of more than £268,000.
The NHS Counter Fraud Authority said in a statement on Monday that Akinrolabu, who worked as a specialist registrar in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Princess Royal University Hospital, repeatedly lied to his employer between 2018 and 2021 to avoid full duties.
According to the NHSCFA, he claimed he was sick and unable to take night or on-call shifts, but at the same time, he secretly worked the same shifts at other hospitals. The agency said he took up extra jobs at three different NHS trusts while still receiving full pay from King’s College Hospital, which then had to hire locums to cover the shifts he refused to do.
The authority said, “A former NHS resident doctor has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to defrauding the NHS out of more than £268,000. Between October 2018 and December 2021, he worked on-call and night shifts at three additional trusts, despite informing his employer that he was unfit to do the same work for them.”
The fraud came to light in 2021 when King’s College Hospital received reports that Akinrolabu had been working night shifts at Basildon Hospital. A local counter fraud team confirmed he had worked several on-call duties there while claiming to be unfit for similar shifts at his main job.
The NHSCFA said it collected payroll records, timesheets and other evidence which showed he did not seek or receive permission for outside work. When he was invited for an interview in 2022, he refused to comment.
Akinrolabu was later charged with four counts of fraud by false representation and pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on September 3, 2025. He was sentenced on November 4.
Judge David Miller told him, “You lied to occupational health, your colleagues and your employer. The public doesn’t expect doctors to lie for personal gain.”
NHSCFA Head of Operations, Ben Harrison, said the case showed a clear abuse of trust.
He said, “This case demonstrates a clear and deliberate abuse of trust by an NHS professional who knowingly breached the conditions of his employment for personal gain. By working additional on-call and night shifts, despite being unfit to do so, Akinrolabu defrauded the NHS of substantial funds that should have supported patient care.”
He added that the agency would continue to pursue people who try to exploit the health service.
Akinrolabu now joins other Nigerians convicted abroad for fraud. In September, PUNCH Metro reported that UK-based Nigerian, Farouk Adekunle Adepoju, was arrested after United States authorities accused him of hacking a construction company’s email system and diverting payment through fake accounts.
