A man who falsely claimed to be an accountant and was jailed for 15 years for fraud died during his sentence following an operation.
Salim Sakaria was jailed in 2014 for fraud and assault following a lengthy HMRC investigation which established he was one of the key men in a crime gang that attempted to steal £4.2 million between 2009 and 2011.
The gang used 20 companies in an attempt to disguise the fraud, using 'puppet directors', fake invoices, and fake building contracts for housing developments as a smokescreen.
A report from the Prison & Probation Ombudsman said Sakaria, from Preston, was initially sent to HMP Manchester but was moved to HMP Risley on January 11, 2017.
After beating cancer twice, other health issues led to him requiring a heart operation, though he died in 2018 from multiple organ failure.
When he arrived, a nurse noted he had been successfully treated for lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system) which was in remission.
She also noted he had previously had a heart attack and undergone gastric band surgery to treat his obesity.
In February 2017, Sakaria's lymphoma returned. It was treated successfully and by May 2018 he was in remission again.
However, while receiving cancer treatment in hospital he suffered another heart attack.
Between May and October 2018, he was taken to hospital on four occasions with chest pains. Tests showed his arteries had narrowed due to a build-up of fatty deposits.
On October 24, he was admitted to hospital and, almost a month later, he had a triple heart bypass surgery and two valves replaced.
However, his condition deteriorated and, after the operation on December 14, he died from multiple organ failure.
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Sue Mcallister said she was satisfied the care Sakaria received at HMP Risley was equivalent to what he could have expected to receive in the community.
However, the prison was unable to provide the escort risk assessment for Sakaria's final hospital admission on October 24, but other documents show he was restrained with an escort chain that remained in place for five weeks until it was removed on November 29.
The report said: "Given Mr Sakaria's very poor state of health at the time, we consider that restraints would only have been justifiable if he was assessed as a significant escape risk.
"In the absence of the risk assessment paperwork, we do not know if this was the case."
Recommendations made to HMP Risley were that the governor should ensure escort risk assessments are completed for every hospital transfer and the documentation retained.
They should also ensure bedwatch staff understand the need to treat prisoners' visitors sensitively and that risk assessments should cover the use of languages other than English where relevant to the individual's risk.
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