New Zealand / Crime

Impostor doctor Yuvaraj Krishnan facing 10 more charges

15:57 pm on 28 September 2022

By Catrin Owen and Edward Gay of

Yuvaraj Krishnan leaves Manukau District court after pleading guilty to using a forged document to get an advantage. Photo: Ricky Wilson / STUFF

A man who used fake documents to secure a job as a doctor is now facing 10 more changes.

Yuvaraj Krishnan pleaded guilty in early September to using a forged document to get an advantage.

Detective Senior Sergeant Veronica McPherson said the 30-year-old has been summoned to appear at the Manukau District Court on charges relating to forgery and using a document for a pecuniary advantage.

He is expected to appear on 25 October.

"As the matter remains before the court, police are unable to comment further," McPherson said.

Krishnan worked for six months as a doctor at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital until questions were raised about his medical qualifications. He was sacked on 10 August and charged eight days later.

According to court documents released to Stuff after Krishnan pleaded guilty to using a forged document, Krishnan's role was mainly in research but he also ran out-patient clinics.

He is believed to have examined up to 80 patients during his time at the hospital.

Doctors in New Zealand must hold an up-to-date medical practising certificate. Court documents show Krishnan has never held one.

In December 2021, he applied for a job at Middlemore's respiratory clinic. Following the interview, he sent a false certificate and fake email from the Medical Council that claimed to verify his suitability for the position.

"The email was also fraudulent - the name and position of the so-called employee at the [Medical Council] does not exist, and the information provided in that email does not align with [Medical Council] policy," the court document says.

A simple search of the Medical Council of New Zealand register of doctors, which any member of the public can do, does not return results on Krishnan's name.

However, six months would pass before Krishnan's forgery was discovered.

"The defendant was only discovered after a doctor recognised his name from a previous incident in 2012 when he was caught attending the University of Auckland without being accepted into the course," the agreed summary of facts said.

"The defendant was trespassed from the university after that incident, having two years' worth of tertiary education without authority."

A fellow doctor previously said Krishnan was found to have forged a student ID card and was doing cadaver dissections.

Before taking up the job at Middlemore, Krishnan was employed at Te Whatu Ora Te Toka Tumai Auckland, previously the Auckland District Health Board, from December 2020 until February 2022.

"During this period the individual carried out a non-clinical role under supervision. The role had no patient contact and did not require a practising certificate," a Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said.

It is understood he worked at the Greenlane Medical Centre in a Covid-19 contact tracing team, calling high-risk people isolating with the virus.

While employed there, Krishnan was convicted of two driving charges: operating a vehicle carelessly and failing to stop or ascertain injury. He was convicted and discharged by Judge Nevin Dawson.

However, he appealed to the High Court at Auckland, saying he was concerned about how the convictions would impact his eligibility to practise medicine in New Zealand and to train in the United States.

Krishnan provided two letters to the court to support his case - one supposedly from the Medical Council and one from James Worthy, an Auckland DHB clinic manager.

However, both the Medical Council and the DHB later said they did not provide those letters and there was no record of a James Worthy working for the DHB.

Krishnan was granted a discharge without conviction on the driving charges.

This story originally appeared on [ https://www.stuff.co.nz/ Stuff]