Former Mpumalanga pharmacy owner convicted of medical aid fraud

A former pharmacy owner, 43-year-old Wisani Ngobeni, was found guilty in the Nelspruit Regional Court for defrauding a medical aid scheme for more than two years, reports Mpumalanga News.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority, Ngobeni, who was the owner of Wisemed Pharmacy in Acornhoek, instructed his employees to forge medical prescription scripts by using names of various doctors operating around the province.

After investigations, a warrant of arrest was issued and Ngobeni was arrested. During trail, he pleaded not guilty to the offence. Senior state advocate Patrick Nkuna of Specialised Commercial Crime Unit led testimonies of three doctors whose prescription scripts were forged.

They told the court that they were approached by the forensic investigators from Ernest & Young to confirm if they had issued the prescriptions to the patients whose names appeared in the prescription. The doctors testified that they never issued any prescriptions nor did they consulted with the patients in question.

The doctors further testified that the amount of the medication on the prescription notes was very expensive and did not form part of their stock. One of the accused’s former employees testified that the accused was the owner of the pharmacy, responsible for the prescription and dispensing of medication using the computer.

The state further called members of Specialised Commercial Crime Unit (Gems), who testified that they never consulted with the doctors who names appeared on the prescription notes and neither bought any medication from the accused. They told the court that they were called to the pharmacy to sign invoices for the medicine they never bought for audit purposes.

The matter was postponed to December 13 for sentencing.

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