A consultant who acted as a loan shark to low-paid colleagues at Central Middlesex and Northwick Park Hospitals has been spared jail.

Dr Arjan Damjibhai Savani, 49, leant more than £1million to predominately Filipino workers in a ‘well organised and profitable’ racket since 2011.

Harrow Crown Court heard he deliberately preyed on the workers knowing they could not afford the repayments and he was aware that they believed being in debt was ‘shameful’.

He was arrested by police who raided his home in St Paul’s Avenue in Kenton, alongside officers from the Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT), in December last year.

Officers uncovered loan records which showed he had received payments totalling more than £880,700 and he had issued 270 loans ranging from £500 to £50,000 to more than 90 people.

During an interview with IMLT officers, Dr Savani admitted he knew he was acting illegally but believed it would take too long to obtain a licence which would have reduced the amount of interest he could charge.

The court heard he also failed to not declare any of his loan shark income to HMRC, making more than £280,300 in interest.

Today he was sentenced to two years in jail suspended for 10 months and was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months

He had admitted two counts of illegal money lending at an earlier hearing last month.

Tony Quigley, head of IMLT said: “Today we have freed another local community of a loan shark. IMLT will continue to crack down on illegal money lending and will bring those who break the law to justice.

“We remind the general public that loan sharks are only motivated by greed and should never be used.”