Fake medical doctor arrested at Ridge hospital

A man who posed as a medical doctor has been busted for duping patients at the Korle Bu Teaching and the Ridge hospitals in Accra on the pretext of helping them to secure National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards.

He is suspected to have duped hundreds of victims, every one of whom he charged GH¢230.

The self-styled medical doctor, Silas Prosper Kudiabor, 35, unemployed and resident of Kaneshie, was arrested at the Ridge Hospital in Accra by some security personnel who had laid ambush after learning about his illegal schemes.

Investigations

Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Public Relations Officer of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mrs Afia Tenge, said some of the victims were currently assisting the police in their investigations.

She said one of the victims, whose identity is being protected by the police, claimed he had met Kudiabor at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where the victim’s brother was on admission on June 5, 2017.

According to Mrs Tenge, Kudiabor, on meeting the victim, introduced himself as a medical doctor and told the victim he (Kudiabor) could assist him to secure a NHIS card to help him settle the medical bills.

Kudiabor told the victim to pay GH¢230, which he claimed would help him fast-track the procedure for securing a NHIS card in three days.

Kudiabor is said to have shown the victim his office by pointing at the door of a locked office and asked the victim to meet him there anytime.

Mrs Tenge said the victim told the police that after Kudiabor had collected the money, he failed to produce the NHIS card and went into hiding.

Second victim

Another victim, she said, told the police that on June 7, 2017, Kudiabor met a taxi driver, whose identity was yet to be established, who was said to be an old schoolmate of Kudiabor’s.

During conversation between the two friends,she said, Kudiabor told his friend that he was a medical doctor who had been posted to the Ridge Hospital and a woman who overheard the conversation complained about her difficulty in securing an NHIS card.

Kudiabor told the woman that he could assist her secure an NHIS card and demanded GH¢230 from the woman.

The woman paid GH¢110 out of the GH¢230, with a promise to pay the rest later.

Kudiabor, after taking the money, promised to deliver the NHIS card to the woman at the Ridge Hospital gate but he never showed up.

Mrs Tenge said the woman, who went to the Ridge Hospital in search of Kudiabor after having waited in vain on the agreed date, reported her ordeal to the security personnel at the hospital.

She was shocked when she was told that Kudiabor was not a medical doctor at the hospital.

The security personnel, armed with the information and a description of Kudiabor, laid ambush in search of the fake doctor.

About 5 p.m. on June 9, 2017, the security officers were said to have spotted Kudiabor entering the Ridge Hospital and he was apprehended.

Following his arrest, Mrs Tenge said, Kudiabor confessed to the crime and pleaded for mercy.