Trial of family doctor charged with fraud offences begins in Carlow court
Carlow Court House
A GENERAL practitioner based in Tullow has pleaded not guilty to twenty counts of fraud before Judge Mary Morrissey at a sitting of Carlow Circuit Court.
Dr Muhammad Waqas Rabbani (45), of Tullow Family Medical Centre, The Square, Tullow, has been charged with offences under section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001, in that he made a gain or caused a loss by deception.
Each of the twenty alleged offences took place on a different day in September 2018 in Co Carlow, beginning on Monday 3 September and ending on Saturday 29 September.
It is the prosecution’s case that Dr Rabbani dishonestly induced the HSE, through its primary care reimbursement services, to make payments to him for services that he claimed he provided to members of the public, but did not actually do so.
The doctor replied not guilty to each charge that was read out by the registrar.
In his opening speech, the prosecuting barrister, Mark Lynam, explained to the jury that through the medical card scheme, doctors are paid out of the state’s pocket rather than the patient’s.
He said Dr Rabbani had a “busy practice” in Tullow, and was the only doctor practising in it alongside several nurses. He would have had a lot of medical card patients and was submitting claims to the HSE in respect of these patients, said Mr Lynam.
In addition to general care, if Dr Rabbani performed anything out of the ordinary, for example giving a patient stitches, seeing them out of hours, or providing them with specific treatment such as a nebuliser, he would be paid extra by the HSE, as agreed by contract.
“The prosecution’s case is that Dr Rabbani saw a large number of patients for whom he claimed extra,” said Mr Lynam. He told the jury that they would hear from witnesses who would say the doctor did not in fact provide services or treatments that he claimed for, that they attended the doctor but didn’t go on the date stated, and who would say the signatures on the claim form were not their own.
Dr Rabbani is being represented by barristers Lorcan Staines and Rebecca Smith and solicitors Michael J Staines & Co.
Those who presented for jury duty at the courthouse were told that Dr Rabbani has no previous convictions and has never been investigated in any country for offences prior to those before him now.
Judge Morrissey noted in her first address to the jury that the accused enjoys the presumption of innocence throughout the trial and that they mustn’t form any “firm views” until they have heard all the evidence and have been directed on the law.
The trial continues today.
