Indian doc shocked after PIO impersonator stole ID
Saturday, 11/03/2017
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=174598&boxid=58487&uid=&dat=2017-03-11
London: A British-Indian rheumatologist in the UK is “shocked” after another Indian-origin man stole his identity to work as a doctor in Australia for 11 years.
Sarang Chitale, who works at Leigh Infirmary near Manchester, has been targeted by a fraudster named Shyam Acharya, who used his identity to enter Australia back in 2003 and register with the medical board in the state of New South Wales (NSW).
According to UK media reports, it is unclear whether the pair met in India in the past. Asked whether he knew Acharya, Chitale told The Australian newspaper “I know - I cannot talk.” Chitale’s wife said the ordeal had been “quite distressing and shocking.” “There is nothing we can do, all we can do is carry on.He has been advised not to talk to anybody while there is an ongoing investigation,” she told Sydney’s ‘Daily Telegraph’.
The case is being investigated by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and the Australian medical authorities. Acharya, pretending to be Chitale, has reportedly spent years treating patients in emergency departments at four hospitals across NSW. The 41-year-old has also acquired Australian citizenship as Chitale.
Health authorities in Australia have been examining records of all patients treated by the fraudster to check whether any were mistreated. Only one complaint about his work has emerged so far, but former colleagues say he had a reputation for being “shabby”.
After working for public hospitals until 2014, he worked for the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Novotech, a medical research company.
Novotech last year became suspicious about his qualifications and alerted local health authorities, which apparently prompted him to flee Australia. Acharya’s present whereabouts are unknown.
