UK: Zim fraudsters jailed over ‘parasitic’ £300,000 money laundering scheme at London NHS trust

By My London

UNITED KINGDOM: A bean counter who masterminded an ‘appalling’ £300,000 fraud on the NHS by faking emails from clients, including the Qatari Embassy, has been jailed together with one of his accomplices.

Edias Mazambani, 42, worked as a credit controller at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital Trust in Southwark, where between 2016 to 2019 he used a network of Zimbabwean money mules from Manchester to launder cash that was owed to clients.

At Southwark Crown Court on Friday (January 30), ringleader Mazambani, who had moved to Liverpool since the offending, was jailed for three years and eight months.

His lieutenant George Magaya also went straight to prison. The other defendants were spared jail, but Judge Christopher Hehir suggested the jury had been “merciful” to clear them of fraud offences.

Abusing his trusted position, Mazambani targeted dormant accounts in credit by sending emails to his own department, purporting to be from the people who were owed money by the NHS Trust, including coroner’s officers and the Qatari Embassy.

The fake emails used the names of real clients, but with “strange” domains like ‘consultant.com’ or ‘accountant.com’.

In a scheme described as “parasitic” by the judge, Mazambani would then slip bank account details of other Zimbabwean nationals into the system so the money could be paid out – namely to nurse Michelle Tegende, 40, of Watford; George Magaya, 48, of Eccles; social worker Rosemary Magaya, 37, also of Eccles; and podiatrist Sinqobile Pasipanodya, 43, of Crewe.

“Attracted by the lure of easy money”, according to Judge Hehir, Pasipanodya received the largest single payment of £69,000, laundering a total of more than £100,000, while the other defendants received around £20,000 each. The total refunds paid out was £218,000, with an additional £84,000 in fraudulent claims prevented, bringing the total fraud to over £302,000.

During a trial last year, jurors were shown a flow chart demonstrating how the bank account holder receiving the refund would earn some “residue” money for their role in the scheme, but most of the funds would be dispersed outwards through the accounts of George and Rosemary Magaya, then back to Mazambani – a process known as “layering”.

The scam was eventually uncovered when staff in the NHS Trust‘s finance department identified suspicious refund requests from Mazambani, who had access to secure financial databases and could be linked to the accounts where the money had ended up.

NHS counter fraud investigators used Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) powers to trace the stolen funds, revealing the money had gone into the accounts of the other defendants.

When Mazambani was arrested, he had a print-out showing which accounts were in credit – prosecutor Frederick Hookway suggested these were intended targets.

Mazambani admitted fraud by abuse of position during a six-week trial in September 2025.

George Magaya pleaded guilty to four counts of money laundering during the same trial. Jurors found Rosemary Magaya, Tengende, and Pasipanodya guilty of money laundering.

Defence counsel for Rosemary Magaya suggested his client had been “exploited” by her husband, claiming that some of the money had gone into the accounts of women who he was impregnating outside of their marriage.

Judge Hehir noted he had not been convinced by Rosemary Magaya’s evidence, and doubted she was under the thumb of her husband.

Recognising his leading role in the fraud, George Magaya was jailed for three years and two months.

For their lesser roles, Rosemary Magaya was sentenced to 18 months suspended for two years with 150 hours unpaid work; Pasipanodya to 18 months suspended for two years with 150 hours unpaid work; Tegende to 12 months suspended for two years with 80 hours unpaid work.

Shilpa Chauhan, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Edias Mazambani’s actions amounted to an appalling breach of trust.

“He exploited his position to steal vital taxpayer funds from the NHS and conspired with others to launder hundreds of thousands of pounds through their personal bank accounts.

“The Crown Prosecution Service worked closely with the police and NHS investigators to uncover the full extent of the fraud and expose the defendants’ deception. We are pleased that they have now been brought to justice. We will now commence Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings against the convicted individuals to recover the criminally obtained funds and assets”.

Ben Harrison, Head of Operations at the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, said: “This sentencing reflects the seriousness of abusing a trusted position within the NHS for personal gain.

“Mazambani exploited his access to sensitive financial systems to orchestrate a fraud that targeted funds held on behalf of patients, with others knowingly involved in laundering the proceeds.

“Thanks to the vigilance of the trust’s finance team and our investigators’ use of Proceeds of Crime Act powers, significant losses were identified and further fraud was prevented.

“We will continue to work closely with NHS organisations to protect public money and hold those responsible to account.”