A SURGEON jailed for two years after a charity for African hospitals was used as a front for fraudulent transactions has had his suspension conditionally lifted by the General Medical Council.

Uganda-born registrar Joseph Maalo, 57, of Brook Drive, North Harrow, was convicted of conspiracy to defraud at Southwark Crown Court in March 2002.

After servicing his prison sentence, the married father of three was last year suspended for 12 months by the the GMC's professional conduct committee.

Last week he broke down in tears when he appeared before the committee again for a decision on whether his suspension should be extended or lifted conditionally or unconditionally.

Mr Maalo claims he was duped by a colleague, Dr Boaz Osir Aidah of Selvage Lane, Mill Hill, into using bogus cheques totalling more than £200,000, when they worked at Hemel Hempstead Hospital.

The GMC has now heard how Dr Aidah asked Mr Maalo, who had several businesses importing gold and timber, if he could deposit and withdraw money from his business account to buy equipment for African hospitals.

The charity was a guise for the movement of funds and the transactions were exposed as fraudulent after alterations on cheques were spotted.

Adrian Derbyshire, for the GMC, told the committee that Mr Maalo was arrested in March 2002 when a bank manager became suspicious.

Dr Aidah was sentenced to three years on two charges of conspiring to defraud.

Mr Maalo said: "I am continuing to clear my name, and the matter is in the hands of the Crown Prosecution Service.

"The police are blaming their solicitors for raising false allegations against me, but I do hope, I do pray that my name will be cleared."

He said he has been on attachment at a hospital in Ilford and explained: "Although I cannot put my hands on patients, my knowledge in medicine is as sharp as it has ever been. I would like to continue as a surgeon."

Committee chairman Roland Doven told him: "You have reassured us that you appreciate that a conviction of the kind for which you have served a prison sentence is serious.

"You have further told us that you have a continuing commitment to practise as a doctor and have provided evidence that you have made much effort to maintain your knowledge.

"You have not committed any further offences and, in these circumstances, the committee has decided that a further period of suspension is not necessary."

But the committee felt that, as Mr Maalo had been out of practice for two years, he needed retraining for the protection of the public and in his own interests.

Mr Maalo must draw up a personal development plan, including attending a basic skills course; practise only in supervised posts at the junior level of senior house officer, and tell potential employers of these conditions.

The GMC will reconsider the case after a year.