The long arm of the law finally caught up with an Arab expat “doctor” who held a forged degree in medicine after learning the hard way that lying doesn’t pay.
The phony doctor was nabbed after practicing medicine at a Jeddah hospital for several years.
Jeddah police said the “doctor” was working as a general practitioner and was the highest paid physician in a private Jeddah hospital. The “doctor” also claimed to have a Ph.D. in medicine, police said, adding that he worked in four major hospitals in Jeddah before serving in Asir.
Police also said he was driving a stolen car and that the vehicle number plate was changed to avoid detection. According to reports, he presented his credentials to the managements of the medical establishments as a fully qualified doctor. He ran out of luck after the Department of Criminal Investigation received information about an Arab practicing medicine at a private hospital and offering therapeutic treatment services.
Sources said he presented medical certificates that were deemed true and accredited. He was employed without being discovered. He had worked previously in another private hospital and moved to the present medical establishment for a higher salary.
After extensive investigation by the Jeddah police and the Department of Criminal Investigation, the man was eventually located in one of the medical establishments where officers went to the scene and witnessed him working. Officers went to his residence and confronted him after making sure he was the man they were looking for and having identified his certificate as a forgery.
Later, the suspect admitted that he worked in large medical establishments, the last being the hospital where he was apprehended. He said he practiced medicine for years and had worked in one of the Asir hospitals before coming to Jeddah.
It appeared the fake doctor obtained his medical certificate after buying it from another Arab who had actually studied in Aden University. After buying the certificate, the suspect altered the name on the degree and read a number of books on medicine so he could familiarize himself with medical terms, diseases and drugs. The doctor had originally studied at a nursing college, but left it to work as an electrician on agricultural machinery.
Bitter pill for charlatan: File on ‘medical’ career closed
