SIX foreign doctors who were arrested and appeared in the Middelburg magistrate's court last week do not face charges of being bogus, the Hawks said in Pretoria yesterday.
The Hawks could not make any statement on the validity of the doctors' qualifications, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) head Anwar Dramat said at a media conference.
The charges the six faced include practising as doctors before registering with the Health Professionals' Council of SA (HPCSA) and using other doctors' practice numbers to claim from medical aids.
Two of the doctors faced charges of organised crime, because they allegedly allowed other doctors to use their practice numbers to claim from medical aids.
Four of the six doctors - Rasheed Aremu, Akinloye Eweoya, Baladale Olutu and Chike Valentine Ezulu - are all registered with the HPCSA.
Dramat said none of the four faced any charges of impersonating doctors.
The HPCSA was still checking on the qualifications and registrations of the other two doctors, Daniel Mondi and a man known only asChikulumuka.
Speaking at the same media conference, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said there was no evidence that Ezulu, the Nigerian doctor who worked at BJ Vorster Hospital in Eastern Cape, was a bogus doctor.
However, he did not rule out that the doctor had a case to answer.
The six doctors are expected to appear in court again on February 23 for a formal bail application.
4 doctors not bogus, say Hawks
SIX foreign doctors who were arrested and appeared in the Middelburg magistrate's court last week do not face charges of being bogus, the Hawks said in Pretoria yesterday.
The Hawks could not make any statement on the validity of the doctors' qualifications, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) head Anwar Dramat said at a media conference.
The charges the six faced include practising as doctors before registering with the Health Professionals' Council of SA (HPCSA) and using other doctors' practice numbers to claim from medical aids.
Two of the doctors faced charges of organised crime, because they allegedly allowed other doctors to use their practice numbers to claim from medical aids.
Four of the six doctors - Rasheed Aremu, Akinloye Eweoya, Baladale Olutu and Chike Valentine Ezulu - are all registered with the HPCSA.
Dramat said none of the four faced any charges of impersonating doctors.
The HPCSA was still checking on the qualifications and registrations of the other two doctors, Daniel Mondi and a man known only asChikulumuka.
Speaking at the same media conference, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said there was no evidence that Ezulu, the Nigerian doctor who worked at BJ Vorster Hospital in Eastern Cape, was a bogus doctor.
However, he did not rule out that the doctor had a case to answer.
The six doctors are expected to appear in court again on February 23 for a formal bail application.
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