Trevor Barry Cosson, 38, of Hastings, East Sussex, former Head of Financial Accounting at an East Sussex NHS Trust was ordered to repay £2,161,758.45 after a judge ruled that the funds should be transferred back to the NHS.
The recovery is the biggest amount ever clawed back by the NHS counter fraud division- NHS Protect.
Cosson, formerly of Flat 309, Kara Court, 15 Seven Seas Gardens, London, is currently serving a five year jail sentence advanced to him in July last year after he pleaded guilty to defrauding two local health boards of £2.2 million.
But now, after Friday’s hearing at London’s Blackfriars Crown Court, Judge Blacksell has ruled in favour of recovering the stolen funds through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Following the hearing NHS Protect Head of External Engagement and Services, Richard Hampton, declared the result a “good day for taxpayer and NHS patients,” as he slammed Cosson over his “staggering dishonesty and greed.”
“Today is a good day for taxpayers and NHS patients,” he said.
“NHS Protect has recovered over two million pounds 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 had used the fraudulent money to build a healthy property portfolio, buying a total of 11 buildings throughout Sussex and London. All eleven will now be auctioned off to repay the NHS.
His crimes became apparent after the health boards he worked for were disbanded and the newly formed Sussex and Surrey Commissioning Support Unit conducted out an internal audit.
NHS Protect investigators eventually discovered that Cosson had manipulated both trust’s payment systems to pay regular standing orders into bank accounts under his controll.
In all, between 2008 and 2011, Cosson arranged for £810,000 in standing orders and £1.4 million in CHAPS payments to be sent to his bank account.
"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,” added Richard.
"Leading the national fight against crime in the health service, NHS Protect plays a vital role in the NHS.
“We are unique in having the expertise not only to investigate fraud but also to mount financial investigations under the Proceeds of Crime Act to claw back money that has been defrauded from the NHS."
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