DODGY dentist Jas Bachada left a trail of fraud so complex the full figures involved will never be known.
The judge who jailed him based the sentence on £25,000 but remarked so much had been concealed it would be impossible to calculate an exact amount.
Bachada and his partner in crime, Ikhlaq Hussain, were jailed for fraud committed between 2002 and 2006 at a dental practice in Droitwich.
They were exposed after workers reported their concerns despite intimidation, which included an incident where staff took away a computer backup disc as evidence and were pursued at high speed by Hussain.
The car chase only ended when they fled with the disc into a police station.
An NHS Counter Fraud Service spokesperson said: “The patients they deceived included OAPs and people on benefits who should have been exempt from the lower NHS charges, but ended up paying private prices.
“At the time when the two went into partnership, Jaspal Singh Bachada was banned from practising as an NHS dentist in Worcestershire.
“Bachada used the identities of other dentists to obtain payment from the NHS.”
Bachada’s business empire includes a practice in his home town - at The Hollies, on Hagley Road, Stourbridge.
Dudley Primary Care Trust (PCT) yesterday confirmed they currently have a contract with Bachada at The Hollies but said it was now under review.
A spokesperson for the PCT said they were unable to reveal how much they pay The Hollies, saying the information is commercially sensitive.
Investigators spent years unearthing evidence due to what they describe as “complex accounts, bad record keeping and determined efforts by the suspects to hide evidence”.
Police discovered a large number of missing patient records in a garden shed while the court was told one patient’s records were rewritten with the assistance of solicitor, Mrs Diljit Bachada, who is also registered as a dental nurse.
The judge said the men had taken over an “impeccably” run practice in Droitwich, lowered its standards, and used it from the outset to deliberately overcharge NHS patients, he added: “The NHS cannot operate unless it can rely on the honesty of professionals.”
Their numerous attempts to pervert the course of justice were taken into consideration in sentencing by the judge as an aggravating feature of their crime.
Dudley PCT is now calling for both men to be struck off the dental register, Bachada was suspended in October 2009.
The pair are also certain to face court action to recover illegally obtained cash.
Steve McKenzie, dental fraud team manager at the NHS CFS, said: “All suspicions of fraud against the NHS that are reported to us will be followed up.
“Wherever appropriate we will investigate and press for prosecution and the strongest sanctions against offenders. We commend all the whistleblowers who came forward.”
A spokesperson for Dudley PCT said: “The vast majority of dentists practising in the West Midlands are honest and deliver high quality and safe services for patients in their care.
“Anyone who is looking to find an NHS dentist in the borough should contact the PCT on 01384 366017”.
No-one at The Hollies was available to comment.
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