Millionaire NRI ordered to pay over 2,000 pounds as parking fees

Dr Chirag Patel

LONDON: A millionaire NRI dentist has been ordered by a court to pay more than £2,000 in parking fee after fraudulently using a disabled badge to park his £140,000 Ferrari.
33-year-old Dr Chirag Patel used the badge which was issued to his business partner's late father, to park outside one of his 'Perfect Smile' dental practices in south London to avoid parking charges of about £15 a day.
According to a report in 'The Daily Telegraph', he admitted using the permit on six occasions in December 2009 and pleaded guilty to two counts of misusing the badge but denied a charge of fraud, which was dropped by prosecutors yesterday just as his trial was due to begin.
Paul Jarvis, prosecuting, told South Western magistrates' court in Battersea: "This case concerns Dr Patel's misuse of a disabled blue badge, that badge having been issued to the father of his business partner. "The father passed away in 2008 and these offences are concerned with conduct occurring some time thereafter".
The dentist had just traded in his Bentley for a bright red Ferrari California convertible, making his £540-a-year Wandsworth business parking permit invalid while it was transferred to the new vehicle.
It would have cost nothing to get a temporary permit to cover the transition period but instead Patel used the badge, which had been invalid for about 16 months.
Patel was fined totally £2,199 including £784 cost.