Two insurance companies have secured High Court orders requiring a surgeon and his wife to repay €730,000 paid to them after it was falsely claimed the woman had breast cancer.
Dr Emad Massoud (52), Woodview, Brownstown, Ratoath, Co Meath, and his wife Gehan Massoud (45), a nurse, were found guilty by a jury last February of defrauding €685,658 from Scottish Provident Ltd on March 25th, 2002.
They were also convicted of defrauding €45,338 on February 22nd 2002 from New Ireland Assurance, trading as Lifetime Assurance Company.
The two companies today obtained summary judgment from the High Court requiring the Massouds to repay a total of €730,996. The Massouds were not represented.
Dr Massoud, who had worked as a consultant surgeon with the Wellman and Nobel Clinics in Eccles Street, Dublin, was jailed for four years over the false cancer claim, while his wife received a suspended three year sentence. Both had pleaded not guilty.
During their three week trial, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the Massouds used a tissue sample from Gehan Massoud’s mother who had been diagnosed in Egypt as having breast cancer.
Dr Massoud had claimed he had removed 237 grammes of tissue, including a tumour, from his wife’s breast.
When the larger claim for €685,658 was paid out, it was lodged to the couple’s mortgage lender, Permanent TSB, but was not used to pay off their mortgage and was in fact put into their current account, the trial heard. The smaller claim, for €45,338, was transferred electronically to a joint account they held at Bank of Ireland, Letterkenny.
Imposing sentence last March, Judge Pat McCartan said this was “a particularly evil and nasty offence” carried out to satisfy the greed of two people well capable of supporting their family.
In the High Court today, on the application of counsel for the insurance companies, Mr Justice Peter Charleton said he was satisfied the money had been paid out on the basis of a fraud and that the Massouds had notice of the companies applications. He granted judgment in favour of the companies.