A pharmacist has been suspended from the professional register for two months for unwittingly playing a part in a £1 million fraud operation.

Zafar Arshid, registration number 2069477, allowed his brother to put a mortgage in his name without realising it was part of a scam to obtain "in excess of £1m", the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) heard at a fitness-to-practise hearing on September 3.

The GPhC accepted Mr Arshid was unaware of the wider fraud at the time and had not benefitted from it. It recognised it was an "isolated incident in an unblemished career", but stressed that allowing his name to be used for the mortgage was dishonest.

Mr Arshid was studying pharmacy in 2005 when his brother told him he was having trouble obtaining a mortgage and asked Mr Arshid if he could put one in his name. Mr Arshid agreed and was unaware his brother falsely told the mortgage company he was earning £17,000 a year.

This application turned out to be part of a "large fraud", the GPhC heard, which resulted in criminal prosecution. 

In January 2013, Mr Arshid pleaded guilty and was convicted of obtaining a money transfer by deception. The judge accepted that Mr Arshid's only involvement in the fraud was allowing his name to be used, and branded his actions a "reckless piece of dishonesty". Mr Arshid was ordered to pay a fine of £5,000 and £2,500 towards the legal costs of the prosecution.

At his fitness-to-practise hearing, Mr Arshid told the GPhC he had "naively" placed trust in his brother, who was 10 years older than him. Mr Arshid said he had signed the mortgage application form without reading it and felt "immense regret, shame and contrition".

Mr Arshid also produced a "number of positive testimonials" to support his case, including one from a branch manager at a Rowlands Pharmacy, where he now works. The manager said Mr Arshid was "approachable and welcoming" and enthusiastic about his job.

The GPhC noted that Mr Arshid was only 20 years old when the dishonesty took place and he had expressed genuine remorse for his actions. It deemed that a repeat of the incident was "highly unlikely".

But the regulator said a "clear message" must be sent that honesty was a fundamental quality in the pharmacy profession and ruled to suspend Mr Arshid from the register for two months.

Read the GPhC's full determination here.

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