A con artist couple who defrauded the NHS in a £1m scam have been jailed, ‘Manchester Evening News’ reports.
NHS managers Deborah Hancox and John Leigh swindled the NHS by setting up sham IT companies to sell products back to the health service at highly inflated prices.
The pair then fled to North Cyprus in 2008 to evade justice after investigators started probing the luxury cars and holiday cottage they bought with their illegal profiteering.
They remained at large, buying property in the Lake District, the United Arab Emirates and in the TRNC, until they were captured in South Cyprus and flown home in 2013.
Leigh, of Bolton Road, Rochdale, had earlier pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering, for which he was given a 44-month sentence and a 40-month sentence, to run concurrently.
Hancox, of Birchfield Drive, Rochdale, had admitted the fraud but His Hon. Judge Leeming QC ruled Leigh was the driving force behind it and handed her a lesser two-year sentence. Both must serve at least half in custody.
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