A Grenadian teenager who was months ago charged by police for pretending to be a police officer, is now facing the charge of pretending to be a medical doctor and is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Akim Andrew, a former General Hospital worker was detained last week and questioned by officers attached to the St Paul’s Police Station.
Andrew, who is from Loretto, St John and is also known as ‘Taxi’ was charged with two counts of fraud by false pretence and four counts of practicing medicine without being registered”by holding himself out to be a medical practitioner without being registered in accordance with the provisions of the Health Practitioners Act.
Information is that he was in a village in the St Paul’s area offering his services in the form of a health fair when someone became suspicious. A police report said Andrew was taken into custody after police received complaints about him offering “medical diagnosis and treatment.”
The teenager, who claimed to be a former student of one the universities on the island, even charged some people a fee, wrote prescriptions to some who used his services, requested of them to tell family and friends of his services and gave some tablets, which he instructed them to take.
When police detained him for questioning in the village, he was found with glucose and blood pressure testing equipment and other supplies, police say.
The Health Practitioner’s Act under which he is charged for pretending to be a doctor provides for a maximum penalty of $20,000 as well as to be confined to jail for two years, while the criminal code, which is used to charge him for false pretence provides for a maximum of two years in prison plus a fine.
Section 111 of the Act, which is subtitled Offences of False Statements and Forgery states that a person shall not make or produce a false or misleading statement, either orally or in writing, in connection with an application or inquiry; or an investigation into a complaint. (NOW GRENADA)
