Dentist braces herself for jail term

A 52-year old woman has been sentenced to prison last week after manipulating more than 1000 claims for dental work.

Fariba Shameli managed to extract £92,500 out of the NHS, while operating Findon Dental Care in Worthing.

Between March 2013 and June 2019 Fariba submitted 1037 false claims. Evidence submitted against Shameli included patient records, private dental laboratories and witness statements from 13 patients and 1 trainee dentist.

When her first trial was due to take place in October 2025, Shameli failed to attend court, and CPS applied to proceed successfully in her absence. She was convicted of one count of 158 claims for treatment that had not been carried out.  The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining counts and asked for a re-trial.

In July 2026 a second trial took place - Shameli again failed to attend.

Again, the court proceeded in her absence and she was convicted on 3 counts:

·       Alleged: She made 532 claims for a trainee dentist.

·       Alleged: She made 186 claims in the wrong date.

·       Alleged: She made 161 claims for work which had been privately paid for.

On September 21^st 2026 Fabia Shameli was sentenced again in her absence to a total of 3 years in prison.

The Crown will now drill down and pursue confiscation and extradition. She is currently residing in Sweden.

Ben Reid, specialist prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Fariba Shameli systematically defrauded the NHS over a sustained period.  For every pound of this fraud, a pound was taken from our NHS which could have gone towards patient care.”

“The CPS will not hesitate to work closely with investigators such as the NHS Counter Fraud Authority to bring those who commit fraud to justice.”

Information in this article was sourced from an official press release issued by CPS.