- Iranian-Kiwi Zholia Alemi worked as a psychiatrist in the UK for 22 years, using fake University of Auckland qualifications.
- She was jailed in 2023 for seven years.
- A judge has now ordered her to pay close to $1 million (NZD) in compensation or face more time in prison.
A woman who faked having a medical degree from a top New Zealand university – earning about $2 million in wages over two decades – has been ordered to pay thousands back or face more jail time.
Iranian-Kiwi Zholia Alemi worked as a psychiatrist for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service for more than 20 years after providing a fake qualification for a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery certificate from the University of Auckland.
The only qualification she had earned from the university was a Bachelor of Human Biology, which she graduated with in May 1992.
Her deception was found out in 2018 after local journalist Phil Coleman, of The News & Star, contacted Auckland University and found out her qualifications were fake.