The United Kingdom’s National Health Service Counter Fraud Authority has secured a three-year prison sentence for a Nigerian doctor, Richard Akinrolabu, who defrauded the NHS of over £268,000.
According to a statement on the NHSCFA website, Akinrolabu, employed as a specialist registrar at Princess Royal University Hospital, repeatedly claimed he was unfit to work night and on-call shifts between 2018 and 2021. Despite citing illness to reduce his workload, he secretly took on the same night shifts at three other hospitals while still receiving full pay from King’s College Hospital, which also had to hire locum doctors to cover his absence.
Investigations revealed he never sought permission for secondary employment. When invited for questioning in 2022, he gave a “no comment” response. He was later charged with four counts of fraud by false representation and pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court.
Sentencing him on November 4, 2025, Judge David Miller criticised Akinrolabu for lying to his employer and abusing public trust. NHSCFA Head of Operations, Ben Harrison, said the doctor’s actions diverted funds meant for patient care and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to prosecuting NHS fraud.
Akinrolabu’s conviction adds to recent fraud cases involving Nigerians abroad, including the September arrest of UK-based Farouk Adekunle Adepoju for allegedly hacking a U.S. construction firm’s email system.
