Cancer fraud surgeon and wife in appeal
Tuesday June 30 2009
A surgeon convicted of insurance fraud after cancerous tissue from his mother-in-law was used to make a €730,000 claim on behalf of his wife has appealed his conviction for fraud.
Dr Emad Massoud and his wife Gehan Massoud, who both have dual Irish and Egyptian citizenship, were convicted of insurance fraud, but they claim their convictions are unsafe and should be set aside.
The Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) yesterday reserved its decision to a later date.
In March 2008, Dr Massoud (53), and his wife (46), a nurse, of Woodview, Brownstown, Ratoath, Co Meath, were convicted by a jury following a three week trial.
Children
He was jailed for four years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, while his wife receive a suspended three-year sentence, because Judge Patrick McCartan said he didn't want both parents of their four children to be incarcerated at the same time.
The Massouds were found guilty of defrauding €685,658 from Scottish Provident Ltd on March 25, 2002, and €45,338 on February 22, 2002, from Lifetime Assurance Company Ltd, by having that sum transferred to their account at the Bank of Ireland in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
The couple denied they had intended to defraud the insurance companies by falsely pretending that Mrs Massoud had suffered breast cancer.
They used a tissue sample from Mrs Massoud's mother, who had just been diagnosed in Egypt as having breast cancer, and claimed the tumour had been taken from Mrs Massoud.
The couple appealed against their convictions to the CCA, which heard from Dr Massoud that his conviction was unsafe on a number of grounds.
These included the validity of a production order served by the gardai to obtain tissue samples submitted in the name of Gehan Massoud.
Lawyers also argued Judge McCartan had erred in his charge to the jury.
Denied
The DPP denied the claims and said the conviction was safe.
Prior to the investigation, Dr Massoud worked as a consultant surgeon with the Wellman Clinic and the Nobel Clinic in Eccles Street, Dublin.
hnews@herald.ie
- Tim Healy
