A disgraced NHS chairman who was jailed for lying about his qualifications is fighting an attempt to strip him of his assets.

John Andrewes, formerly from from Christow, secured a string of senior jobs including the chairmanship of the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust by making false claims about his background, experience, and academic achievements.

He was paid more than £1 million over more than a decade after lying his way into a job as chief executive of St Margaret’s Hospice in Taunton and using this as a springboard to become chairman of the Torbay Care Trust.

His lies were only exposed once he had moved on again to running the biggest NHS trust in Cornwall, where staff became suspicious and a check was made on his CV.

It found a trail of falsified degrees and diplomas dating back to when he got his job at the hospice by claiming to have run a charity when in fact he was a humble youth worker.

He was jailed for two years at Exeter Crown Court in March this year after admitting fraud and is now fighting an attempt to seize his assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Judge Graham Cottle adjourned a hearing until next year after being told by Mr Sam Jones, defending, that Andrewes is applying to have the case dismissed as an abuse of process.

He said: ‘This is a very complicated and confusing matter. The issue is that he misrepresented his CV and as a result gained employment. He moved from that employment to another NHS trust where he earned a significant salary.

‘That employment was not to do with the representations he made. The Proceeds of Crime Act application is seeking to recover that money. We are preparing a document and are likely to argue there is an abuse of process.’

At his sentence in March, Andrewes, aged 63, of Flood Street, Totnes, and formerly of High Street, Topsham, admitted deception and two counts of fraud and was jailed for two years by Judge Geoffrey Mercer, QC.

He told him his lies had been ’staggering’ and said he had undermined public trust in the NHS.

Andrewes earned more than £100,000 a year in top jobs at the St Margaret’s Hospice in Somerset, the Torbay Care Trust, and the Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust, where he worked until his fraud was unmasked in 2015.

He styled himself as Dr Andrewes and falsified not only his educational qualifications but also his work experience with a series of charities.

He claimed to have been managing director of a youth charity called Groundworks when in fact he had spent most of his career as a probation officer, customs officer or youth worker.

His only formal qualification was a Higher Education Certificate in Social Work from Bristol University.

In a series of job applications he provided CVs which claimed her had a PhD in Leadership and Success from Plymouth University, where he said he had written a thesis called Women in Power.

He lied about having a Masters in Business Administration from Edinburgh University and degree from Bristol. He also claimed to have a Diploma in Advanced Accountancy.

Police were called in when questions were raised about his background when he was chairman of the Cornish trust. His former home at Christow was raided and the false CVs seized.