A former Cambridge academic, Dr Ehsan Abdi-Jalebi, has been ordered to repay £1.3 million to the government’s Business Department in three months, or face another eight-and-a-half years in prison. 

Abdi-Jalebi, a scientist who worked on wind turbines and established a technology firm in 2007, was convicted and imprisoned in 2018 after admitting to forging documents to obtain about £2.8 million worth of research grants from the government. 

The National Crime Agency (NCA) began investigations into Abdi-Jalebi following the former academic’s third attempt to leave the UK with large amounts of cash.

The former academic had forged documents, including invoices and bank statements, to apply for research grants from the UK government. 

Abdi-Jalebi claimed that the money was used to fund a novel renewable energy project, but investigations by NCA revealed that it was pocketed for personal use. These included the purchase of a Cambridge property and a lease of a Maserati sports car. 

He withdrew more than £820,000 in cash over four years. More than £1.5 million was taken to Dubai for personal use or moved to Iran in cash. Abdi-Jalebi also used the bank accounts of his PhD students to receive payments from his affiliated companies, before wiring them into his personal accounts. 

The final sum of £1.3 million Abdi-Jalebi has to pay comes from the remaining proceeds of his crimes. The former academic will still continue to owe the government this amount, in addition to the prison sentence, if he fails to fulfil the court ruling. 

Speaking of the ruling, NCA senior investigating officer, Ian Truby, said: “This result shows that a prison sentence is not the only consequence for fraud and the NCA will work to deny you from the proceeds of your crimes.”