Doctor found guilty of 'systematically' defrauding HSE
Dr. Muhammad Waqas Rabbani has been found guilty of 13 counts of fraud for systematically overbilling the Irish Health Service Executive. The court heard that the doctor submitted fraudulent claims for medical treatments that were never performed on patients.
Why it matters
This case highlights vulnerabilities in public healthcare payment systems and the potential for systemic financial abuse by medical professionals.
A doctor has been found guilty of "systematically" defrauding the Health Service Executive through its medical card payment scheme after a two-week trial at Carlow Circuit Court.
Dr Muhammad Waqas Rabbani, of Tullow Family Medical Centre, The Square, Tullow, was found guilty of 13 counts of fraud and not guilty of four counts of fraud after an hour’s deliberation by the jury.
The offences were committed on different dates between 3 and 29 September 2018 and related to €2,229.72 paid to Dr Rabbani by the HSE in October 2018.
Judge Mary Morrissey directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty on three further charges due to insufficient evidence.
Prosecuting barrister Mark Lynam BL described the offending as "a systemic attempt to defraud the HSE" in his closing speech to the jury.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in