Man Jailed For Stealing Drs Identity To Work In UK

A 36-year-old man has been jailed after it was found that he stolen a doctor's identity to work in the UK.

Levon Mkhitarian was sentenced to a total of six years pleaded guilty to a total of 21 charges: 14 charges of using a copy of a false instrument and seven counts of fraud by making false representations.

Mkhitarian, 36, of Renaissance Walk, London, also admitted a further charge of obtaining leave to enter the UK through deception.

An investigation by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate found that Mkhitarian, originally from the former Soviet State of Georgia, had come to the UK in 2007 on a student visa to study medicine.

In February 2010, he was granted provisional registration by the General Medical Council and months later he was issued with a migrants skilled work visa to work in London.

But in April 2013 concerns were raised over his ability to work at the level he was working, and he was suspended from working as a doctor in the UK.

Following this, Mkhitarian started to forge documents to assume the identity of another, genuine doctor, and made up a CV, bank statements, energy bills, medical degree and training certificates, references and an email account all under the same name.

Mkitarian applied for work at seven different locum recruitment agencies, using the fake documents which he tailored to bolster his chances, however, most of the agencies saw issues with the documents offered.

However, he was successful with two agencies and he continued to work at various hospitals until his arrest 18 months later where he was working at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford that day.

Mkhitarian’s double life was found out by hospital staff following security checks and the matter reported to Kent Police.

He had already earned a total of around £85,000 through working under the false identity at various hospitals.

The extent of his deception was uncovered by officers Detective Constable Theo Perez and Detective Constable Tania Pickering who found hundreds of copies of all the documents on his computer tablet.

Mkhitarian was arrested on Saturday 18 April by officers and when interviewed initially pretended to be Italian and visiting his uncle in the hospital.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Gossett of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: "It was a carefully constructed fraud and Mkhitarian had dedicated a lot of time to it as officers found many drafts of his forged documents.

"Most doctors' careers are built on reputation, training and trust, and that is something he decided was easier to steal from a genuine doctor, rather than earn.

"In this particular case the risk of harm to patients was not high but nevertheless his actions were selfish and reckless.

"Mkhitarian is now behind bars and will hopefully use that time to realise the severity of his actions, both for himself and those affected.

"I want to thank NHS England and the other bodies involved for their full support in this investigation – their co-operation meant this fraudster has been dealt with quickly and appropriately."

(MH)