Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency - Public safer with Ahpra’s 100th criminal prosecution
Look up a health practitioner

Close

Check if your health practitioner is qualified, registered and their current registration status

Public safer with Ahpra’s 100th criminal prosecution

25 May 2023

From fake physiotherapists working in aged care homes, to unqualified dentists removing teeth, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) has now completed 100 criminal prosecutions to protect the public.

Ahpra’s first criminal prosecution was finalised in January 2014 when a West Australian woman was sentenced to a $20,000 fine for claiming to be a registered psychologist. Since then, Ahpra has prosecuted matters throughout Australia with the most in Victoria and NSW.

Alexander Gigney became Ahpra’s 100th criminal prosecution yesterday when he pleaded guilty in the Adelaide Magistrates Court to working unsupervised as a pharmacist for 17 months without any registration. Mr Gigney previously held provisional registration as a pharmacist but did not renew his registration when it expired, despite continuing to work full time in a pharmacy. The Court fined him $1,200 and also placed him on an 18-month community corrections order requiring 42 hours of unpaid community work.

‘Holding out’ cases, where someone is pretending to be registered when they are not, dominated the prosecution list. Some of the most serious individual matters include:

  • Majid Rahebi – fake NSW dentist who was twice prosecuted by Ahpra and fined $68,000 for performing dental acts despite having never trained or registered as a dentist. He performed root canal treatment, crowns and tooth extractions. He also administered prescription medications, namely anaesthetics, when he was not authorised to do so.
  • Michael Sylvester Dempsey –physiotherapist who held out 11 people as qualified occupational therapists and physiotherapists in a number of aged care homes. Some of those pretending to be registered included completely unqualified taxi drivers and hospitality workers. He was eventually convicted and fined $120,000.
  • Mr Shyam Acharya – who used a UK-based doctor’s medical qualifications and identity to practise as a medical practitioner in Australia. After being alerted by the General Medical Council in the UK, Ahpra investigated and he was convicted and fined $30,000 plus legal costs amounting to $22,000.

False or misleading advertising has also kept Ahpra busy. Hance Limboro was convicted of 13 charges in relation to false, misleading and deceptive claims such as that chiropractic treatment can prevent cancer. He was fined a total of $29,500.

Ahpra CEO Martin Fletcher said the 100th prosecution is a significant moment for the organisation.

‘Pretending to be registered when you’re not is a profound breach of trust with the public. We take these matters seriously and will continue to take strong action to ensure public safety,’ Mr Fletcher said.

Professor Tina Cockburn, from the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), said such work is vital to maintain public trust in those we need to care for us and our loved ones.

‘The community places a great deal of trust in health professionals. We rely on care providers to be competent to provide safe treatment and truthful advice,’ Prof Cockburn said.

‘Ahpra’s important work prosecuting 100 cases holds offenders to account and deters non-compliance. This is critical to maintain public trust in safe and effective healthcare.’

Background

Many of the most serious matters from the past 100 cases occurred before the National Law change in 2019.

From 1 July 2019, offenders face the possibility of a maximum term of three years imprisonment per offence. They also face an increase in the maximum fines from $30,000 to $60,000 per offence for an individual and from $60,000 to $120,000 per offence for a corporate entity.

Below are details and key moments from Ahpra’s 100 criminal investigations.

By profession:

Nursing and Midwifery

27

Medical

20

Psychology

16

Dental

12

Pharmacy

8

Chiropractic

6

Optometry

3

Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy

2

Occupational Therapy

2

Chinese Medicine

1

Physiotherapy

1

Paramedicine

1

Podiatry

1

Grand Total

100

By state:

VIC

35

NSW

30

WA

12

QLD

12

SA

10

TAS

1

Grand Total

100

Profession and state:

Nursing and Midwifery

25

VIC

12

NSW

5

QLD

4

SA

4

WA

2

Medical

20

VIC

11

NSW

4

QLD

4

SA

1

Psychology

16

VIC

6

NSW

4

SA

4

WA

1

QLD

1

Dental

12

NSW

7

VIC

4

WA

1

Pharmacy

7

NSW

4

WA

3

SA

1

Chiropractic

6

NSW

2

WA

2

QLD

2

Optometry

3

WA

2

NSW

1

Occupational Therapy

2

VIC

1

NSW

1

Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy

2

VIC

1

TAS

1

Chinese Medicine

1

NSW

1

Physiotherapy

1

WA

1

Paramedicine

1

QLD

1

Podiatry

1

NSW

1

Grand Total

100

Types of matters

(Please note, this will not add up to 100 as some advertising cases involve multiple categories):

  • Unqualified or fake practitioners: 53
  • Suspended or cancelled practitioners: 20
  • Lapsed practitioners: 23
  • Advertising: 5
  • Aged care: 8
  • Cosmetic services (injectables or surgery): 11

Penalties

First (and only) sentence of ‘imprisonment’ - Zhi Sin Lee – medical student who failed her final exams, worked as an intern at a hospital despite not being registered. Initially sentenced to two years Intensive Corrections Order (imprisonment to be served in the community), with an additional fine of $10,000. Reduced on appeal to 18 months ICO, fine confirmed at $10,000.

Fines range from $127,500 (highest) to $2,000 (lowest) where imposed.

Average fine (where fine imposed): $16,542

Other penalties imposed:

  • Good behaviour bonds (or equivalent) – 5
  • Diversion order – 1
  • Community corrections orders - 7
  • Charges withdrawn or dismissed due to serious ill health of defendant - 2

Top ten fines

Defendant

State

Date

Profession

Type of offence

Fine

Costs

Wellness Enterprises Pty Ltd t/a Australian Male Hormone Clinic

NSW

3/10/2017

Medical

Advertising - creating unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment

$127,500

$6,298.0

 

Dempsey, Michael Sylvester

TAS

30/04/2019

Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy

Claims as to registration – others

Unqualified practitioner/fake; Aged care

$120,000

$25,530.7

 

Anwar, Mohamad Faizel Bin Mohamad

VIC

1/02/2018

Medical

Claims as to registration - self

Cosmetic services;

$100,000

$14,885.0

 

Suspended/cancelled practitioner

Lipohar, Edward

VIC

7/06/2018

Dental

Use of specialist title - self

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$65,000

$25,000.0


Restricted dental act

CM

(No media statement issued due to mental health issues)

VIC

11/07/2019

Nursing and Midwifery

Claims as to registration – self

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$60,000

$4,000.0

Use of protected title – self

Aged care

Rahebi, Majid

NSW

12/03/2020

Dental

Claims as to registration – self

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$38,000

$9,000.0

 

Restricted dental act

Young, Albert Joshua

NSW

21/04/2021

Pharmacy

Claims as to registration – self

Suspended/cancelled practitioner

$38,000

$2,500.0

 

The Running Clinic (Australia) Pty Ltd

NSW

28/05/2019

Podiatry

Advertising - creating unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment;

$30,600

$8,000.0

 

Advertising - false, misleading or deceptive

Crawford, Nicholas

WA

28/08/2015

Nursing and Midwifery

Claims as to registration - person

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$30,000

$7,500.0

 

Use of protected title - person

Acharya, Shyam (aka Sarang Chitale)

NSW

3/04/2017

Medical

Claims as to registration - person

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$30,000

$22,000.0

 

Rahebi, Majid

NSW

26/10/2018

Dental

Claims as to registration - person

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$30,000

$6,000.0

 

Restricted dental act - not specified

  • Diversion order – 1
  • Charges withdrawn due to serious ill health of defendant - 1

Repeat offenders

(prosecuted for subsequent offending – this excludes individuals prosecuted in more than one state as a result of one investigation)

Defendant

State

Date

Profession

Type of offence

Type of offending

Fine

Costs

Cashman, Anthony

(No media statement published )

WA

28/08/2015

Optometry

Claims as to registration – self

Restricted optometry act

Lapsed practitioner

$15,000

$3,000.0

Cashman, Anthony


WA

5/05/2017

Optometry

Claims as to registration – self

Restricted optometry act

Lapsed practitioner

$18,000

$2,856.0

Defendant

State

Date

Profession

Type of offence

Type of offending

Fine

Costs

Citer, David Adam

 

NSW

9/05/2018

Psychology

Claims as to registration - person

Schedule 6 - false or misleading documents to an inspector

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$9,500

$5,000.0

Citer, David Adam

 

NSW

5/04/2019

Psychology

Use of protected title – person

Claims as to registration – self

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$25,000

$15,200.0

Defendant

State

Date

Profession

Type of offence

Type of offending

Fine

Costs

Rahebi, Majid

 

NSW

26/10/2018

Dental

Claims as to registration - person

Restricted dental act - not specified

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$30,000

$6,000.0

Rahebi, Majid

 

NSW

12/03/2020

Dental

Claims as to registration – self

Restricted dental act

Unqualified practitioner/fake

$38,000

$9,000.0

 

Contact us

For media enquiries: (03) 8708 9200.

  • Lodge an online enquiry form.
  • Find out more about how to report an offence.
 
 
Page reviewed 25/05/2023