Tuesday 12th January, 2016

NHS manager and three accomplices, found guilty of money laundering and fraud offences after a £3.5m NHS fraud, were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court for a total of 9 years, 8 months. Neil Wood was a senior manager at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Trust until March 2013.

An investigation was launched into the £3.5m loss to Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Leeds Community Healthcare Trust and NHS England in March 2014.

Wood pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to over 4 years, 8 months’ imprisonment.

He was responsible for training contracts and awarded the vast majority of these to a company called The Learning Grove, run by his friend Huw Grove, totaling more than £3m over a seven year period. A total of £1.8million was transferred from The Learning Grove to LW Learning Ltd, a company registered in his wife name, Lisa Wood.

Simon Higginbotham, specialist fraud lawyer at the CPS said, "He outsourced services which could have been undertaken in-house so that his wife, friends and contacts received vast sums of money they were not entitled to. Neil Wood more often than not received a 50 per cent cut".

When working for NHS England, further monies authorised by Neil Wood were paid to The Learning Grove. During this time, Neil Wood was able to award a contract worth £231,495 to a company called Multi Health Systems in Canada. This work was undertaken in the UK by a close relative of Terry Dixon, later sentenced to 1 year imprisonment.

Sue Frith, Managing Director of NHS Protect, said; "This successful result of a joint operation involving the Police, HMRC and NHS Protect shows how well a multi-agency approach can work in tackling fraud. These criminals boasted about how much money they could steal from the NHS, with not a thought about the consequences for patients."

Huw Grove, was found guilty of fraud by abuse of position along with Terry Dixon. Lisa Wood, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering.