Surgeon who staged burglary to claim £180k in ‘stolen art and jewels’ is found guilty – but wife cleared after saying she had no clue of family cash
Anthony McGrath, 46, claimed antiques, artwork and jewellery were stolen from his home in Hertfordshire
A LEADING surgeon has been found guilty of faking a burglary to make a £180,000 bogus insurance claim.
Anthony McGrath, 46, claimed antiques, artwork and jewellery were stolen in a break-in at his rented cottage.
The audacious scam even included a supposedly lost 19th century Rococo red marble fireplace.
But the orthopaedic surgeon's scheme was uncovered by police who spotted pictures he supplied of the items had been taken AFTER the break-in.
Officers raided his family's stately home in Ireland and found antique furniture, paintings, crystalware and jewellery he claimed were missing.
Luton Crown Court heard flashy McGrath had been renovating his new £1.1m home in St Albans, Herts, but his spending had 'run out of control'.
His debts had spiralled to more than £1million.
McGrath was found guilty of four counts of an insurance scam fraud, perverting the course of public justice, and three charges of mortgage fraud.
WIFE CLEARED OF ANY WRONGDOING
His GP wife Anne-Louise McGrath, 44, was cleared of any involvement following the four-month trial.
She had told the court that with young children to care for and an ailing mother she left much of the family’s financial affairs to her husband.
Three mortgage applications were submitted by Mr McGrath to Lloyds Bank between 2012 and 2015 supported by forged documentation in relation to his and his wife’s earnings.
A forged 'employment and income reference' purportedly sent from the HR department of a hospital in Southampton where McGrath was working during 2012 had inflated his earnings by nearly £10,000.
Before the scam, the surgeon had been trying to raise funds by selling off antiques.
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He’d even told the owner of one antique business that he was helping to fund a child refuge in Syria, saying he had already transferred £74,000, but investigations revealed no money had been sent.
Prosecuting, Charlene Sumnall said: "This was all a lie. Anthony McGrath was trying to raise as much money as possible in early 2015, not for the children of Syria, but to alleviate the significant financial pressure facing him and his wife."
Despite the money troubles, McGrath spent £50,000 on a Maserati, later telling the police he was "not particularly good with money."
