As in “Catch Me If You Can”: 34-year-old worked as a doctor thanks to a forged certificate

In all cases, the man was found dead in a hospital after six days on duty. He confessed to the police that he had forged documents, but did not want to enrich himself with it. Rather, the pressure from relatives to demonstrate successful training is said to have motivated him to provide false information and job applications, the police statement said on Monday. This story brings back memories of the Hollywood film “Catch Me If You Can” with Leonardo diCaprio: Here, too, the main character of the film posed as a doctor without ever having studied medicine.

The man from the Bruck-Mürzzuschlag district was exposed for the first time in the spring of 2023. He presented himself to the medical association with a fake doctoral certificate from an Austrian medical faculty and a fake school-leaving certificate from a secondary school and sought a job as a doctor. The forgeries were not recognized by the chamber and so he was allowed to take up a position as a doctor in basic training at the LKH Knittelfeld in June 2023.

Six days on duty in the hospital

The suspect was on duty at the hospital for a total of six days, but, according to the hospital operator, was not allowed to carry out any independent work on patients – without the supervision of an experienced doctor. However, in an emergency, it could have happened that the 34-year-old would have had to carry out independent examinations on patients, including necessary medical decisions, it was emphasized.

However, there was no actual harm to patients because suspicions quickly arose. The alleged doctor had previously worked as a paramedic for some time. Former colleagues noticed that the man was working as a “doctor” in the hospital. They became suspicious because no one knew anything about his medical studies. They informed their supervisor, who passed the information on to the hospital operator. “An internal review revealed the fact that the 34-year-old had never completed a medical degree. He was immediately terminated,” the police statement said.

Qualification title “Engineer”

After being laid off in the hospital, the 34-year-old, who had previously worked as a militia soldier as a medic, went to the St. Michael barracks in Upper Styria in his militia uniform with an officer’s rank insignia and a doctor’s badge. There, too, he presented the fake doctorate certificate to the Armed Forces Personnel Office. However, officers noticed the man’s supposed promotion, and an immediate check confirmed the suspect’s false information.

During the investigations by the Styrian State Criminal Police Office, Niklasdorf branch, it emerged that the suspect had already posed as a graduate of a higher federal college for forestry with the qualification title “engineer” in 2020. He also used the title in official documents, although he had never attended this school.

During the interrogation, the 34-year-old confessed to all the forgeries and spoke of pressure from his relatives. Neither the hospital operator nor the armed forces paid the Upper Styrian salary, which meant there was no financial damage.

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