A South London dispensing optician who was found guilty of defrauding more than £80,000 from several PCTs has insisted that he has done nothing wrong and that he was forced into pleading guilty.
As reported in Optician, (April 20), Ronald Preedy, aged 64, who owned two optical practices, pleaded guilty of ni
ne counts of obtaining money transfer by deception at Southwark Crown Court. He received a suspended jail sentence and 120 hours of community service. The court heard that Preedy had submitted more than 2,000 fraudulent claims to various PCTs.
The judge also ordered 18 further counts to remain on the court file and Preedy was ordered to pay costs of £20,000. The court heard that Preedy was registered with the GOC as a DO but routinely carried out sight tests and claimed fees from several South London PCTs. It also emerged that to cover up his offences, Preedy had signed the claims under the name of a qualified OMP Dr Moustafa Yaqub who was known to him.
However, speaking to The Post (Sutton Borough) newspaper, Preedy remained defiant and claimed that he was forced into pleading guilty and would lodge an appeal.
'I was pressured to accept a plea bargain. I can't accept that I have done something wrong,' he said. 'I would have liked the case to have gone the whole way, The truth has not come out.'
During the hearing the prosecution had pointed out that Preedy was not qualified to carry out the eye tests. However, Preedy insists: 'I felt I had done the work. How can they be false claims? Out of the thousands of people, they haven't found one problem. I have done some marvellous work.'
Preedy told the local newspaper that the court case had ruined his career and that he had been forced to close his two South London practices. He added that he was 'terrified' when 10 detectives came to arrest him.
The case was brought by the NHS Counter Fraud Service after an anonymous tip-off. Optician understands that the General Optical Council will consider Preedy's case at a later date.