• Anne Baker submitted fake invoices to a fictional radiologist for 13 years
• Worked as department manager at Princess Grace Hospital London
• She and her husband spent most of the money on 2.5 acre Cornwall estate
• They also spent £100,000 on a luxury holiday villa in Bodrum, Turkey 
  

By Steve Nolan

PUBLISHED: 08:16 EST, 13 August 2013 | UPDATED: 08:50 EST, 13 August 2013

A couple who spent £1.1million of stolen hospital money installing waterfalls and fountains at their Grade II listed home and on a holiday villa in Turkey have been jailed for a total of 10 years.

Andrew Baker, 65, and his wife, Anne, 61, spent a large chunk of the money gained from a 13-year con on the grounds of their sprawling 2.5 acre estate in Cornwall.

The couple also spent nearly £100,000 on a holiday home in Bodrum and owned two Jaguars and an Aston Martin.

Mrs Baker pocketed £1,142,101.02 by submitting a string of fake invoices to a fictional radiologist, Dr Baker, for consultancy services while she worked as a radiology department manager at the Princess Grace Hospital in Marylebone, central London.

Southwark Crown Court heard that Mr Baker knew 'full well' of his wife's scam and was a key beneficiary.

He also transferred £85,000 into two Turkish bank accounts and stashed £25,000 in a gun cupboard at his home.

Jailing Mr Baker for six years and his wife for four years, Recorder David Aaronberg QC said: 'It beggars belief to suggest that (Mr Baker) thought this was all legitimate income. 'He tried to fool the jury and they didn’t fall for it.

'It was very easy for Mrs Baker, in a position of trust, to create a fictional doctor, to submit invoices in his name. She was in a gross breach of trust over more than 13 years.

'Previous good character only goes so far when it comes to offending behaviour of this kind.'

He added: 'I take the view that you are equally culpable, you chose to contest this matter and you deceived the jury and the court with your explanations which were patently untrue.'

The fraud - which allowed Mrs Baker to take home four times her monthly salary - took place between 1998 and 2012, when the hospital was run by HCA International.

Mr Baker claimed he had 'no idea whatsoever' about his wife’s wrongdoing, insisting he had obtained the cash legitimately from his late father and the sale of a flat in Putney, southwest London.

He also said his wife had received a bonus of £132,000 when she retired from the hospital in 2008.

But a jury of seven women and five men convicted Mr Baker of two counts of money laundering following a week-long trial.

Anne Baker admitted false accounting and money laundering prior to her husband’s case.

She authorised forged invoices around once a month, with annual amounts varying between £80,000 and £179,000.

Their home, Manderley, built in the 17th Century near Launceston, is a popular venue for couples to hold lavish weddings, boasting its own golf course, exotic bird aviary and koi carp lake.

The couple's Bodrum villa was purchased in September 2007 before £85,000 was transferred to Guaranteed Bank accounts which had Andrew Baker’s name 'all over them'.

A further £88,882 was spent on building work at Manderley, with even more cash spent on landscaping projects.

Prosecutor Hugh Forgan told jurors that their genuine earnings were 'dwarfed' by their ill-gotten gains.

He said: 'Mr Baker turned the house in Cornwall into something rather splendid.

'The defendant knew he could afford it because he knew full well what his wife was up to.'

Mrs Baker is now bankrupt and insisted her husband was oblivious to her deception.

Justin Rivett, defending Mrs Baker, claimed she had turned to crime because she found it 'very difficult to make ends meet'.

'She accepts full responsibility for her actions,' he added.

'Initially she hadn’t set out to defraud her employers over a long period of time but events just simply carried on.

'The fraud was not of a sophisticated nature.

'She spent a lot of money and most of it did go on Manderley but it was a large property and expensive to maintain.'

Priya Malhotra, defending Mr Baker, a qualified civil engineer who has worked on contracts for the U.S and British military, said he was not the main player in the fraud.

Following the sentencing, a statement released by HCA Hospitals and the Princess Grace Hospital said: 'HCA welcomes the jury’s verdict that Mr Baker is guilty of money laundering.

'Mr and Mrs Baker conducted systematic and ongoing criminal acts and both were complicit in the planning and cover-up of their actions.

'HCA operates with rigorous financial procedures but criminals will always seek ways of circumventing and misleading. Like any company, we will continue to review and improve systems to ensure similar cases cannot happen again.'

Detective Constable Julie Jode, of Westminster CID, said: 'Mrs Baker abused her position of authority by fraudulently taking money that did not belong to her and Andrew Baker was aware of this and directly benefited from her illegal actions.

'They both enjoyed a decadent lifestyle through criminal gains at the expense of HCA Hospitals.'