Trainee surgeon investigated after lying about car crash as part of fraud scam

Dr Mohammed Salhab pursued a court case to win damages for himself and three others after his black Audi 3 was involved in a crash.

Salhab, 40, who works at the Chapel Allerton Elective Orthopedic Centre, part of Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, appeared at the High Court in London on February 17.

He had earlier admitted lying in court statements that there had been four people in his car when it was involved in an accident with a bakery van in 2017, after dashcam footage from the van showed there were only two people inside.

Salhab also admitted contempt of court and received a suspended jail sentence and a £2,500 fine for fraud.

A spokesperson for the GMC said: “We are aware of the concerns but we are not able to provide further information about complaints or investigations unless the matter has been referred to a full hearing at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS).”

The case was pursued in the High Court by insurer Axa after a claim for damages at Leeds County Court by Salhab was thrown out by the judge when the doctor’s former partner, Rozia Mahmood, gave evidence that she and Salhab were the only two passengers in the car.

Alongside Salhab in the High Court were co-conspirators his father Abbas Salhab, 73, and Mahmoud Aljubouri, 34, a friend, both from Leeds. They were also given suspended prison sentences of four months and fined £2,500 each. Rozia Mahmood was not brought to court.

In November 2017, Salhab was driving a car on the A64 between Leeds and York when it collided with a Ford Transit van owned by a bakery. The van driver said Salhab braked violently for no apparent reason, causing the van to hit the car’s bumper.

When the case came before the High Court, Salhab said he did not know claims were being made by Abbas Salhab and Mahmoud Aljubouri and attempted to blame his former solicitors.

The court was told how Salhab was an “irreplaceable” part of the medical staff at Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust and a “great asset to the unit”.

But prosecutor Simon Clegg said: “Mr Salhab also knew that his father and friend were never entitled to any damages and yet he persistently and knowingly attempted to defraud the road traffic insurer.”

Judge Simon Auerbach said: “These types of fraud or contempt cases have been for many years a severe and pervasive problem in our justice system.”

Edward Frost, head of fraud strategy at Axa, said: “If Dr Salhab thought getting away with insurance fraud was easy, he was very mistaken. Having realised they’d been caught, Dr Salhab and his co-conspirators tried to back out of these proceedings. We did not allow that to happen.”