Alec Gandy sent payments of £123,000 to non-NHS employees Matthew Lane and Kaylee Wright between August 2022 and May 2023 while employed by Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust as a senior manager responsible for the management of additional roles reimbursement scheme staff in primary care networks.

Lane was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and 200 hours of unpaid work and Wright to 25 days of rehabilitation activity at Wolverhampton Crown Court on 16 January 2026.

Ben Harrison, head of operations at the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, said: ‘This outcome endorses the value of our robust and objective approach to ensuring that anyone who attempts to defraud the NHS is brought to justice.

‘This was a calculated scheme that diverted significant public funds away from frontline patient care. Our investigation, with the support of West Mercia Police, uncovered a deliberate abuse of position, with Gandy exploiting his senior role to manipulate NHS payment systems for personal gain.'