Leicester-based DOs Shabir Ibrahim and Zahir Ibrahim were found guilty of serious professional misconduct at a General Optical Council disciplinary committee meeting on Wednesday (March 15). The charges against the men were brought after they were convicted of 27 specimen counts of false accounting at Leicester Crown Court last year. Mr Ibrahim and his brother were sentenced to carry out 180 hours of community service, and ordered to repay Leicestershire Health Authority more than &\#163;6,000 (News, October 8). The committee heard the men were caught after an investigation revealed payment claims were being submitted for work that had not yet been carried out. Representing the GOC, solicitor Susan Dryden said police limited the investigation to a 13-month period due to problems communicating with the Asian community. She said a sample of offences, which occurred between 1997 and 1998, included claiming for more than one pair of spectacles following only one eye examination, and claiming for complete replacements when only minor repairs had been carried out. Representing Mr Ibrahim and his brother, Dr Simon Taylor described the men's 'overwhelming feeling of shame and remorse' that they had brought the profession into disrepute. In delivering the GOC's decision, Dr Ewan Page, committee chairman, said: 'The committee takes a very serious view of the defrauding of the NHS and we are in no doubt that to act dishonestly as a supplier to the NHS is serious professional misconduct. 'We consider that the public is placed at risk by those who abuse the trust placed in them by the NHS. We are also concerned at the number of types of false accounting admitted.'