Portsmouth jailed fraudster GP struck off medical register

A GP jailed after he stole more than £1.1m to fund his gambling habit has been struck off the medical register.

Rumi Chhapia, 45, took funds from a company that oversaw a group of medical practices in Portsmouth.

He was one of five directors of the Portsmouth Primary Care Alliance Limited (PCCA) and was given temporary responsibility for its finances after one of them went off sick.

His registration was erased at a meeting on Friday.

Chhapia was jailed for three years and four months at Portsmouth Crown Court in 2021 after admitting fraud by abuse of position.

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) panel found Chhapia, from Southsea, had brought the medical profession into disrepute and acted dishonestly.

It said he admitted misappropriating funds at a meeting with PCCA directors on 28 September 2020 but had been given the opportunity to admit what he had done after being challenged at the start of that month.

Instead, it said, he "lied to his colleagues and continued to make transfers until the day he told the truth".

The MPTS said he made 64 transactions from the PCCA's account into his own over 41 days. All money has since been repaid to the PCCA.

The panel said that "while there were no specific patient safety concerns", given Chhapia's conviction and sentence, erasing his registration with immediate effect was necessary to "uphold and maintain professional standards and maintain public confidence in the profession".

Chhapia can appeal the panel's verdict.

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