A medical friend of a consultant surgeon charged with a €700,000 insurance fraud has said the accused's mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer a few months before the accused's wife claimed to have the same disease.
Mohamed Elsayed Attia said he later saw a glass pathology jar containing human tissue in the home of the couple who are on trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court charged with defrauding two insurance companies of more than €700,000.
Dr Attia said he was not aware at any stage that his friend's wife had breast cancer and said if she had, he "definitely would have known because we were such close friends".
The jury has also heard that a letter and a phone call received by a now retired insurance company staff member led to the Garda investigation into the alleged fraud by the consultant surgeon and his wife.
Paul Lageu, who was head of customer services at Scottish Provident Ltd, said the company contacted gardaí after he got the letter and phone call.
Dr Emad Massoud (50) and Gehan Massoud (43), a nurse, Woodview, Brownstown, Ratoath, Co Meath, have pleaded not guilty to intent to defraud the companies by falsely pretending that Ms Massoud had suffered breast cancer and that there was an obligation on them to settle serious illness claims.
They deny intent to defraud Scottish Provident Ltd of €685,658 on March 25th, 2002, through having that amount made payable to Permanent TSB and €45,338 on February 22nd, 2002, from Lifetime Assurance Company Ltd by having that sum transferred to their account at the Bank of Ireland Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
Dr Attia, an anaesthetist, denied a suggestion from defence counsel John Peart SC, for Dr Massoud, that this was a "witch hunt" against the Massouds and that he had called the insurance company with "this made-up story" after he had fallen out with them. "No, you cannot say that. I saw it. I am 100 per cent sure. I have no doubts," Dr Attia replied.
Dr Attia told Dominic McGinn, prosecuting, that when he visited the Massouds' home in late summer, early winter of 2001, Ms Massoud was very upset having learned that her mother who was still living in Egypt had just been diagnosed with cancer.
He said that another doctor, Mohamed Hilal, was also there and the three men discussed whether to bring her to Ireland for treatment or to have a sample of her breast tissue brought to Ireland for a second opinion.
Dr Attia said he was "happy" that a pathology report detailing a tissue sample allegedly taken from Ms Massoud's left breast was "consistent" with the specimen he saw in the couple's home that day. He never saw the sample again after that.
He denied a suggestion from Mr Peart that he had been able to get access to the Massoud files from the Mater Private Hospital because he worked there at the time.