A medical doctor and her assistant from East London in the Eastern Cape have been arrested allegedly for issuing fake medical certificates to patients.
It’s alleged that the 67-year-old doctor charges about R350 per certificate. She and her 37-year-old assistant made a brief appearance in the East London Magistrate’s court on fraud charges on Thursday.
The arrest is a conclusion of an investigation conducted by Hawks and crime intelligence. It originates from complaints that the police received from a certain government department about a suspicious medical certificates issued by the suspect.
Hawks spokesperson Anelisa Feni says they decided to send an undercover police to investigate and the officer received sick notes on more than one occasion without examination.
An undercover agent has on two occasions during this month received the sick notes. The doctor allegedly issued the undercover agent with sick notes for both occasions, one was back-dated and another post-dated.
The suspects have been released on warning and will appear in court again on June 19.
