A CONSULTANT surgeon who defrauded almost €750,000 from insurance companies through a false breast cancer claim has been jailed for four years by Judge Patrick McCartan.
Dr Emad Massoud (52), Woodview, Brownstown, Ratoath, Co Meath and his wife, Gehan Massoud (45), a nurse, were convicted by a jury last month following a three week trial for what Judge McCartan described as "a particularly evil and nasty offence".
Judge McCartan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court imposed a three-year sentence on Gehan Massoud which he suspended because he didn't want both parents of their four children to be incarcerated at the same time.
He said their offence was at the higher end of the scale and was done "simply to satisfy the greed of two people well capable of supporting their family".
The Massouds used a tissue sample from Gehan Massoud's mother who had just been diagnosed in Egypt as having breast cancer and claimed that the tumour had been taken from her.
Dr Massoud admitted through his counsel, John Peart SC (with Charles Corcoran BL) on the first day of the trial that it was he who had removed 237 grammes of tissue, including a tumour from his wife's breast, rather than a colleague, Dr Mohamed Hilal, as he fraudulently stated and signed on the insurance claim forms.
Judge McCartan described the offence as "an appalling tragedy entirely of their own making" and noted that the couple's professional careers were now ended "when there was no need to put those careers in jeopardy".
He noted that couple's four daughters, ranging in age from seven to 21 years old, would "suffer hugely" and said it was "incredible" that two educated people had failed to see what risks they were taking.
Judge McCartan said he was not impressed that neither of the Massouds had worked since the gardaí first investigated the matter in November 2003 and noted there were no prospects of the couple paying back the money they stole from the insurance companies. The couple have been on legal aid throughout the case.
He refused Mr Peart and Cormac Ó Dúlacháin SC (with Seamus Clarke BL), for Gehan Massoud, leave to appeal the convictions but allowed their legal aid to continue in the event of their appeal proceeding elsewhere.
Judge McCartan commended Det Sgt Declan Daly, who led the investigation, and his Garda colleagues on the way they compiled, presented and prepared the evidence, which he described as "frankly overwhelming".
The couple had pleaded not guilty to intent to defraud the insurance companies by falsely pretending that Mrs Massoud had suffered breast cancer and that there was an obligation on them to settle serious illness claims. The Massouds were found guilty of defrauding €685,658 from Scottish Provident Ltd on March 25, 2002 and €45,338 on February 22nd, 2002 from Lifetime Assurance Company Ltd by having that sum transferred to their account at the Bank of Ireland in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
The jury of seven men and four women deliberated for two hours before returning the guilty verdicts. The couple have dual Irish and Egyptian citizenship. Dr Massoud had been working as a consultant surgeon with both the Wellman Clinic and the Nobel Clinic which operate out of the same building in Eccles Street near Dublin city centre.
Det Sgt Daly told prosecuting counsel, Dominic McGinn BL, that neither of the Massouds had any previous convictions and that the insurance companies had instituted High Court proceedings to seek reimbursement.
Mr Peart said that since his client has been remanded in custody following the verdict from the jury a month ago, "every day in prison has equated to a life sentence to him" and said that it would be "tragic for his family if they were deprived of him".
Mr Ó Dúlacháin pleaded that while it was a fact "that a person having children is not license to commit crime" he asked Judge McCartan to have regard for the impact this would have on the couple's children. "They have no extended family in Ireland and the younger children have lived their whole lives in Ireland," he said.
Mr McGinn told the jury in closing the case that the "ultimate issue" for it to decide was whether Mrs Massoud had breast cancer as she claimed.