A vet who created accounts for fake pets as part of an insurance scam has been found guilty of dishonest conduct at a misconduct hearing.
Donal Johnston created “entirely fictitious” accounts for cats and dogs at the surgery where he worked in Northern Ireland,
At the hearing, he admitted the charges of dishonest conduct and fraud through false insurance claims.
Mr Johnston invented accounts for dogs named Bruce and Sophie, which didn’t exist. He also arranged for insurance money to be paid into a bank account he owned when he set up insurance for a receptionist’s cat and dog, Angelo and Bruce.
The practice manager at Banbridge Vet Pets, where Mr Johnston worked, uncovered his fraud. When confronted, Mr Johnston said: "You’re probably talking about the insurance claims?"
Mr Johnston had worked for the vets, in County Down, for two years before he was fired upon his fraud coming to light.
The hearing was told he created three different sets of “sophisticated” fake clinical records for Sophie the dog, who didn’t exist.
Between October 2013 and April 2019, he claimed a total of 7,073 from insurers and even forged the signature of another vet at the practice. Records for Bruce, the fake dog, were created in April 2019, and Mr Johnston claimed 5,370 for his treatment and forged a colleague’s signature on all of these.
In March 2019, Jacqueline McMillan, a receptionist at the practice, brought her domestic longhair cat, Angelo, to Mr Johnston because he had been...
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