A woman who faked a medical degree certificate to work as an NHS psychiatrist for two decades has been convicted of fraud and forgery.

Zholia Alemi worked as a psychiatrist across the UK, claiming to have qualified at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Alemi was employed as a locum psychiatrist by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) between April 2014 and April 2015.

She worked with adults and children with learning difficulties at Lothingland Hospital, Oulton.

On Wednesday, following a four-week trial, Alemi was told she faces a prison sentence “of some substantial length” after she was found guilty of 13 counts of fraud, three counts of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, two counts of forgery and two counts of using a false instrument.

Judge Hilary Manley remanded Alemi in custody and told her she will be sentenced on February 28.

Alemi earned between £1 million and £1.3 million from the NHS after she sent the forged certificate to the General Medical Council to register to practise in 1995.

Christopher Stables, prosecuting, said Alemi, who is believed to be 60,  "has no qualification that would allow her to be called, or in any way to be properly regarded as, a doctor.”

Alemi had been convicted of three fraud offences at Carlisle Crown Court in 2018 after forging a will to make herself the beneficiary and forging powers of attorney.

She was sentenced to five years in prison after re-drafting the 84-year-old woman’s will.

The GMC apologised for “inadequate” checks made in the 1990s.

Alemi, of Plumbe Street, Burnley, denied forging her degree certificate, telling the jury she did not fail any exams in the six-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery course.

University records showed Alemi, who was born in Iran, was stopped from re-enrolling at the university in New Zealand after failing a number of years.

Janice Wild, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Alemi used forged New Zealand medical qualifications to obtain employment as a UK NHS psychiatrist for 20 years.

"She treated hundreds of patients when she was unqualified to do so, potentially putting them at risk."