Zholia Alemi (born 1962) is a convicted fraudster who posed as a doctor for over twenty years in the United Kingdom. In February 2023 she was convicted of defrauding the National Health Service (NHS) of more than £1 million and sentenced to seven years in prison. She had previously received a five-year prison sentence for forging the will of an elderly patient. Early life and studies Alemi was born in Iran in 1962. She studied at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in human biology in 1992. She then enrolled on a medical degree course. She passed her first-year exams at the second attempt but then failed her second-year exams and was not allowed to continue on the course. She left without a medical qualification. Career as a fake doctor In 1995 Alemi moved to the United Kingdom and applied to the General Medical Council (GMC) to register as a doctor. She forged a degree certificate and a letter of verification from the University of Auckland to support her application. Her credentials were not checked and she was granted a provisional registration by the GMC. Following a year spent working in two hospitals in Northern Ireland, she was granted a full registration in 1997. Over the next twenty years she worked as a psychiatrist for the NHS in a number of NHS trusts across the UK, often as a locum doctor. Alemi became a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2003, passing part one of their exams after four attempts and part two after three attempts. In 2012 the Royal College of Psychiatrists recommended her for entry to the GMC specialist register in psychiatry with learning disability, enabling her to apply for consultant posts. The GMC received a number of complaints about Alemi during her career as a psychiatrist, relating to her behaviour towards patients and colleagues, prescribing, and dishonesty. She was over the years given formal advice and a warning, and had conditions imposed on her practice. In July 2017 she received a twelve-month suspension from the medical register, which was renewed in August 2018. 2018 trial In October 2018 Alemi was convicted of stealing from a vulnerable elderly patient while working in Cumbria and forging a will to make herself and her grandchildren beneficiaries of the wealthy widow’s estate. She was sentenced to five years in prison. At this stage no-one