Guilty verdict in fraud case

Roger King, former director of Specsavers' Merthyr Tydfil practice, has been found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the National Health Service of £56,000 after seven hours of deliberation by a jury at Merthyr Crown Court.

The scam to defraud Bro Taf Health Authority happened over a number of years, reported the South Wales Echo. Hundreds of false claims were made to the NHS and put through the system by Roger King's staff between 1998 and 2001.

King denied the conspiracy to defraud, saying he knew nothing of it until auditors came in and found large discrepancies. He will be sentenced on December 13 along with three ex-employees, Carol Stacey and former manageresses Christine John and Catherine Williams, King's former sister-in-law who had all already pleaded guilty.