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Bogus S'porean doctor attended to over more than 400 patients in Aussie hospital
17 Jun 2010
FOR nine months, a Singaporean man pretended to be a doctor at an Australian hospital, attending to more than 400 patients in his time there.
Only when his lack of medical knowledge came to light did medical staff get suspicious of the 29-year-old.
Yesterday, Balaji Varatharaju was sentenced by the Northern Territory Supreme Court to two years' jail on three counts of forgery and three counts of criminal deception.
He also pleaded guilty to the aggravated assault of a patient during a medical procedure.
The former Adelaide University student, who graduated in health science but never completed a medical degree there, was employed as an intern doctor at Alice Springs Hospital after providing a fake medical degree.
He worked in the hospital until February this year.
The court heard that medical staff began to question Varatharaju's qualifications when he showed a lack of clinical knowledge. It was after further investigation that his forged degree was revealed.
He has been in prison since February. This is not the first time he was caught forging documents.
A report in The Australian newspaper revealed that he had enrolled in a six-year medical degree programme but was expelled for forging a senior lecturer's signature on a research paper and for attempting to change an E grade to a B grade.
In mitigation, his defence lawyer told the court that Varatharaju's motivation was not money, but that he wanted to help people and he was remorseful for his actions.
Australia's ABC News reported that in meting out the sentence, Justice Jenny Blokland said Varatharaju had breached the trust of patients and the medical board of Alice Springs Hospital, which was 'of a high order given the deplorable consequences that can flow from such deception'.
He was sentenced to two years' jail with a non-parole period of 14 months, including time already spent in custody.
It is not known if Varatharaju will be deported when his jail term is over.
