A senior surgeon has appeared in court to face allegations he "routinely inflated" fees for private medical procedures he carried out on patients.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Mohammed Suhaib Sait, who worked in north Kent, is alleged to have defrauded medical insurers AXA PPP between Feb 2011 and April 2015, and Aviva, from February 2013 and May 2015, for treatments he claimed were more complicated than they were.

He appeared before Medway magistrates today where he faced two fraud and two forgery charges, and one count of making a malicious communication.

The prosecution alleged the defendant "routinely inflated" his fees for medical procedures.

It was suggested that Sait claimed the procedures were more complicated than they were and misrepresented this to insurers.

The prosecution added this amounted to "a significant breach of trust given the defendant's position".

Fees were estimated to be between £4,000 and £20,000.

Following the fraud allegations, an investigation was launched.

The forgery charges relate to letters involving AXA PPP and Aviva between October and December 2015.

It is further alleged that Sait sent a handwritten letter to the patient of a colleague which conveyed information which was false.

Sait, 58, of Chislehurst Road, Chislehurst, was granted unconditional bail and is due to appear before Maidstone Crown Court on July 1.

Sait used to work at Longfield’s private BMI Fawkham Manor, which closed its doors to patients in June 2019, and Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford.

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