Fraudster falsely took £20,000 in sick pay claiming she had cancer and HIV

A fraudster pocketed over £20,000 in sick pay after falsely claiming that she had both cancer and HIV.

Emma Rorison, 50, tricked her insurance company by creating sick notes using the names of actual doctors to back up her claims.

The 50-year-old said she was receiving radiotherapy and had also contracted HIV after being raped, but when insurance provider Domestic and General asked to see her medical records, she refused.

Rorison, a former customer relations adviser, also lied to her employer by claiming she had been a victim of medical negligence, which resulted in her developing tumours in a liver and kidney.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Rorison claimed a total of £22,102.92 from the company, from 2018 to 2023.

She was dismissed from her role at Domestic and General when the fraud was uncovered.

Rorison pleaded guilty to the fraud. She was spared jail time, instead being handed her 20-month jail term, suspended for two years.

Recorder Adrian Jack told the court: “Over an extended period of time you pursued your employer to grant you more than £22,000 in sick pay you were not entitled to.

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“You carried out an extensive case of fraud and created fictitious letters from the hospital which resulted in you receiving substantial sums of money you were not entitled to.”

Laura Hocknell, prosecuting, said that the 50-year-old first asked for flexible working in 2018, a year after she started at the company.

Rorison asked for the adjustment due to her claim that she was undergoing cancer treatment for a brain tumour.

Hocknell said: “On May 14, 2019, occupational health reported she was having ongoing cancer treatment including chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In December 2020, she told them she’d had an operation to have lymph nodes removed but they had grown back.

“In 2021, she said she was undergoing dialysis for a kidney tumour and also had a liver tumour. She said she had been the victim of medical negligence.

“In September 2021, she said she was suffering from anxiety due to the radiotherapy and in 2022 said she had been raped and had contracted HIV. Her employer asked for consent to see her medical records but she refused.

“She then sent letters to her employer claiming to be from doctors at Woodthorpe Hospital which supposedly confirmed her HIV. An employee at Woodthorpe Hospital then confirmed these were not genuine letters. She was called into Domestic and General and dismissed.

“They reported matters to the police. She was interviewed on October 10, 2023, and admitted she created the doctor’s letters.”

Sian Barber, mitigating, said whilst Rorison did have “genuine health concerns”, things “spiralled completely out of control”.

She added that Rorison did not act based on financial gain.

As part of her sentence, Rorison must attend 20 rehabilitation sessions and have a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.

The judge also ordered her to pay back the full £22,102.92 to Domestic and General as compensation within the next 12 months or risk being sent to prison for up to 18 months.