Ex-BDA chief struck off for fraud

The former chairman of the British Dental Association (BDA) was struck off for fraudulently claiming £51,000 in expenses from his organisation.

Trevor Mann, of Cheam, South London, attempted to evade investigation by offering to repay the money.

The General Dental Council (GDC) was told that Mr Mann, a non-practising dentist, wrongly claimed expenses for meetings of the association from October 2005 to July last year.

He claimed that he worked at a surgery in Byfleet, Surrey, but an investigation found no trace of the practice.

The GDC committee report said: ‘The Committee has heard evidence that from October 2005 to October 2007, Mr Mann was chair of the representative body and a member of the executive board of the BDA.

‘From 6 October 2005 to 27 July 2007, Mr Mann inappropriately and dishonestly claimed from the BDA sessional allowances, to which he knew he was not entitled, to the value of £51,554.50.

‘Mr Mann also signed a declaration stating that he had read and understood the BDA expenses policy and was entitled to claim sessions for Monday to Friday.

‘This, too, was misleading and dishonest. In order to justify these dishonest claims, he stated at a meeting on 5t October 2007 with Mr Ward, the Chief Executive of the BDA, that he had been working as a general dental practitioner since October 2005.'

Mr Mann's dishonesty was compounded by the fact that the claims were made over a sustained period of time and were not isolated incidents.

Further, Mr Mann's admissions were only made when it became obvious that he had been making false claims that he could no longer deny.

 Posted on : Thu 23rd - Oct - 2008