A woman lied about her qualifications during an interview for a job as a senior nurse at a neonatal unit at a Welsh hospital. She has now been found guilty of nine charges including fraud and securing access to unauthorised computer material.
Tanya Nasir, 45, was employed at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend before the fraud was discovered. Her line manager became concerned during a routine revalidation of her Nursing and Midwifery Council registration. A trial at Cardiff Crown Court heard further inconsistencies with Nasir’s application were discovered in regards to references and she was suspended from her post in February 2020.
An investigation by the NHS Local Counter Fraud Authority revealed Nasir’s deception began in 2010 when she failed to disclose a conviction while studying at Buckinghamshire New University in breach of the university’s fitness to practice policy. She subsequently fabricated a letter claiming to be from Hertfordshire Probation Service, which said she was under no obligation to disclose her convictions. The letter convinced the university to allow her to continue her studies.
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Between 2013 and 2015 the defendant was employed as a staff nurse assistant at Hillingdon Hospital in London and went on to work at Spore Bushey Hospital in Watford before returning to Hillingdon. Following her appointment as a band seven ward manager at the Princess of Wales Hospital it was discovered that information provided by Nasir on her application form, and two applications for Hillingdon, were false.
In her application she claimed she had qualified as a nurse and became registered with the Nursing Midwifery Council in 2010. However officers confirmed with the university that she did not qualify until 2014. Further checks were made with four other universities she claimed to have obtained qualifications from. Three confirmed she never attended and the fourth confirmed she did attend but did not have any record of her being awarded one of the qualifications outlined in her application.
Previous employers listed were also contacted. Many of them confirmed that Nasir was either not employed in the role she claimed to have worked in or that she had never been employed by them in any capacity.
In all three applications Nasir claimed she had served in the military. She said she had been shot twice while deployed overseas. The investigation found she had never been in the Army or the Army Reserve. She had joined the cadet force in November 2013 but was discharged and struck off in May 2016. She was never deployed in active combat or conflict.
When applying for a role at Hillingdon Hospital in 2015 one of the references given was from a commanding officer in the Territorial Army. The email address she provided for the reference was the one assigned to Nasir whilst she was in the Army Cadet Force. She used this address to fabricate her own reference and bolster her fraudulent job applications. In July 2019 Nasir provided a reference containing lies and fabrications on behalf of another woman to enable her to also gain employment within the NHS.
Nasir, of Hertfordshire, was arrested on April 21, 2021, and her property was searched with digital devices and documents seized. Following her trial the defendant was convicted of of nine charges including fraud, using a false instrument with intent, possession of articles for use in fraud, and securing unauthorised access to computer material with intent. She will be sentenced on September 24.
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