.jpg){kind=link}
Former NHS credit controller sentenced after a fraud and money laundering scheme targeted NHS funds
A former NHS finance employee has been sentenced after playing a central role in a large-scale fraud that caused losses of more than £200,000 to the NHS and attempted to steal a further six-figure sum.
Edias Mazambani, 42, was sentenced to three years and eight months’ imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court on 30 January 2026 after pleading guilty to fraud. The prosecution was brought by the Crown Prosecution Service following an investigation led by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority.
Mazambani was employed as a credit controller within the finance department of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, where he abused his position to authorise fraudulent refund payments. These payments are related to money held on account for hospital clients, often generated by overpayments on earlier invoices.
Between December 2016 and January 2019, Mazambani authorised 34 payments totalling £218,306.84 from NHS accounts. Investigators later established that the attempted fraud could have reached £302,799.51 if a further ten payments had not been blocked after suspicions were raised by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority.
The investigation revealed that the stolen funds were deliberately routed through multiple bank accounts held by other defendants, a method used to disguise the origin of the money and reduce the risk of detection. Despite this, prosecutors proved that Mazambani personally received at least £78,123.93 from the fraud.
Several co-defendants were also sentenced for money laundering offences connected to the scheme. George Magaya, 49, pleaded guilty to four money laundering-related offences after receiving £23,623.92 and was sentenced to three years and two months’ imprisonment. His wife, Rose Magaya, 37, was found guilty of money laundering offences and acquiring criminal property totalling £19,070.31, receiving an 18-month suspended sentence.
Sinqobile Pasipandoya, 43, was convicted of one count of money laundering after receiving £106,288.87 and was given an 18-month suspended sentence. Michelle Tengende, 40, was convicted of one count of money laundering involving £20,180.37 and received a 12-month suspended sentence.
Shilpa Chauhan, Specialist Prosecutor for the CPS Serious Economic and Organized Crime International Directorate, described Mazambani’s conduct as a serious breach of trust, confirming that proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act will now be pursued to recover criminal assets.