30.03.15
NHS to recoup over £2m defrauded by Sussex finance chief
A jailed accountant has been ordered to pay back more than £2m he stole from the NHS.
Trevor Barry Cosson, 38, of Hastings, East Sussex – a former head of financial accounting for two primary care trusts (PCTs) – used the money to build a portfolio of 11 properties in East Sussex and London, which he will now have to sell.
Since July 2014, Cosson has been serving a five-year prison sentence following an NHS Protect fraud investigation, but now Judge Blacksell at Blackfriars Crown Court has confiscated £2.16m from the convicted fraudster.
Cosson defrauded Hastings & Rother PCT and East Sussex Downs & Weald PCT of £2.2m by manipulating the internal payments systems.
Standing orders were set up in the name of regular suppliers, but the payments were actually credited to bank accounts he controlled. Between 2008 and 2011, Cosson authorised £810,000 worth of standing order payments, and £1.4m worth of CHAPS payments.
His crimes first came to light when the PCTs he had previously worked for were being disbanded and the newly-formed Sussex & Surrey Commissioning Support Unit carried out an audit.
Richard Hampton, head of external engagement and services at NHS Protect, said: “We have recovered over £2m for patient care that was stolen by Trevor Cosson, a senior NHS finance manager. Cosson is already in jail serving a long prison term after NHS Protect's successful fraud and money-laundering investigation last year.
“Cosson's staggering dishonesty and greed has really let down the vast majority of NHS workers – most of whom do hard, honest work for a lot less money than he was paid.”
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