Dentist faked own death for £1.85 million

A dentist has been jailed for five years after admitting making £1.85 million of life insurance claims after faking his own death.

Emmanouil Parisis, 46, formerly of Barnstaple, Devon, admitted eight charges of false representation.

He faked a car accident in Jordan, moved to Aberdeenshire and changed his name to Neil McClaren.

Parisis received £51,000 in claims, the court heard. His wife was also convicted in connection with the fraud.

Parisis, who was originally from Jordan and had debts of £379,000, forged documents to show he had died in a car crash while on holiday in Amman, Jordan, in 2009, the court heard.

He claimed on 15 different insurance policies, assumed his fresh identity and moved to Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.

The court heard his £135,000-a-year salary was not enough to pay off his debt and his defence team said the fraud was driven by desperation.

After he moved to Scotland, his wife, Stiliani Parisis, 41 – known as Anabella McClaren – stayed behind in Devon, to play the part of the bereaved widow.

The couple’s four children believed their father was dead for three months before his wife and they moved to Scotland also.

His wife, who also admitted fraud charges, was sentenced to 16 weeks, but was released because of time spent in custody and a curfew.

In a statement from the GDC, a spokesperson said: ‘The GDC can confirm that Mr Parisis appeared on our register as both Emmanouil Parisis and, at a later date, as Neil McLaren.

‘The GDC’s Registrar subsequently referred Mr McLaren to our Interim Orders Committee and he was suspended from the register whilst an investigation is ongoing. As such we will not comment further on the case at this time.’

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