UK Woman with Forged Diploma Works as Psychiatrist for 20 Years

On June 6th, 2025, a fraudulent doctor who used fake documents to work as a psychiatrist in the UK’s national healthcare system for 20 years has been sentenced to jail and ordered to repay hundreds of thousands of pounds. Zholia Alemi, originally from Iran, moved to New Zealand in the early 1990s with her family. Despite failing to obtain the necessary medical degrees, she managed to exploit a legal loophole in the UK that allowed Commonwealth doctors to practice without further examinations. Alemi used forged paperwork to bypass the required PLAB test and worked as a psychiatrist across the UK.

According to Adrian Foster of the Crown Prosecution Service, Alemi showed little concern for patient safety by using fake qualifications to secure a job as an NHS psychiatrist for two decades. Her fraudulent activities came to light in 2018 when she was convicted of forging a will to inherit a property valued at £300,000. This discovery led to further investigations, resulting in Alemi being sentenced to five years in prison for fraud. She has now been ordered to repay over £400,000 or face additional jail time.

Prosecutors revealed that Alemi earned more than £1.2 million during her time in the National Health Service, jeopardizing the lives of countless patients. They also raised concerns about the loophole that allowed Alemi to practice without proper credentials, fearing it could have been exploited by other criminals. As a result of this case, the UK’s General Medical Council has initiated a thorough review of licenses issued to around 3,000 overseas doctors in the 1990s.