Prosecutors have confirmed they are not taking action against a locum doctor who falsely claimed £150,000 in earnings.
Dr Odianosen Oriaifo was working at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin when he began falsifying his timesheets.
Earlier this month, he was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC) after the watchdog heard he would have had to work “impossible” shifts of up to 26 hours, without any time off, for about 15 months to justify the pay.
But now the Crown Office has confirmed no criminal proceedings will be taken to try and retrieve the £146,237.
A spokesman said: “The procurator fiscal received a report relating to a 39-year old male and incidents said to have occurred between June 2014 and November 2015.
“After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, the procurator fiscal decided that there should be no proceedings taken at this time.
“The Crown reserves the right to proceed in the future should further evidence become available.”
When asked if the evidence gathered by the GMC tribunal would be considered sufficient to proceed with the case, the spokesman said there was nothing further to add to the original statement.
An NHS Grampian spokeswoman also confirmed the money had not been recovered.
Who is Dr Odianosen Oriaifo?
Dr Oriafio worked as a locum at Dr Gray’s for a period in the mid-2010s, being paid by NHS Grampian despite not being directly employed by them.
When he was called by a clinical director to discuss the irregularities with his timesheets in January 2016, he left the hospital in the middle of his shift without telling anyone.
The Nigerian-born doctor left the country a few days later, and five years later the GMC tracked him down to Baltimore in Maryland.
A report on the tribunal, which ended on March 1, concluded: “Erasure of Dr Oriaifo’s name from the medical register is the only sanction sufficient to uphold the over-arching objective to protect the public, maintain public confidence in the profession and uphold proper professional standards.”