Medical and Dental Council Arrests Two Quack Doctors For Fraud, Illegal Abortions
Story by Bugbila Moadow.
An operation by the Medical and Dental Council at a suburb of Accra known as Adenta, and Swedru in the Agona West of Central region, has led to the separate arrest ofbtwo men who were involved in the illegal medicine practice.
The two men arrested were Bright Afful and Samuel Owusu for performing illegal abortion and defrauding foreign trained doctors.
The report added that it took tip-offs of people to get the suspects arrested in separate swoops last year December 24 and December 30, 2021.
In briefing the press how the arrests came to be, the Acting Registrar of the Council Dr.Divine N. Banyubala said that in the case of Bright Afful, they received several allegations of how he and other individuals had been collecting monies from some foreign-trained doctors under the pretext of helping them apply to write, and then to pass the council’s pre-registration assessment examinations.
These fraudsters claim to have links with some top officials at the council on whose behalf they collect the monies so that they can secure the questions for them before they sit for the Pre-registration examinations, and or help influence the outcome of the results; he said.
Further investigations showed how Bright Afful, the key person behind these dealings, was also involved in organizing medical outreaches and screening programmes at various rural communities.
He is said to have sometimes gone with some of these foreign-trained doctors to these communities, getting them to participate in the exercises.
Their preliminary investigations showed that some of the places they visited included villages around Cape Coast, Akwatia,and Agona Swedru.The suspect is alleged to have been charging his victims from GH 1,000.00 to GH 20,0000 and the money is paid wholly or in installments over a period and their Council’s investigator was charged 10,0000 by the suspect (Bright Afful) to assist him to change his results.
With the assistance from Agona Swedru Divisional Command of the Ghana Police Service,the suspect was arrested on 24th December 2021 and put before the Cape Coast Circuit Court for trial; as the registrar said.
For Samuel Owusu,who was arrested at Adenta New Site in Accra, the Registrar said a report about him practicing medicine illegally and performing illegal abortions for his clients got of them.
Operating from a pharmacy located at his residence and called the Kwaowus Pharmacy, investigations showed that Samuel charged GH 500 per client before terminating a pregnancy.
The Registrar explained that it was later found out that the Certificate with which the suspect was operating with was not from authorized place.
The pharmacy has since been closed down in the interest of public health, safety, and wellbeing. He was arraigned before the Adenta Circuit Court on December 31st, 2021, and remanded into Police custody and to reappear on the 4th January 2022.
On this date, the accused was granted bail in the sum of Sixty Thousand Ghana CEDI’s ( Gh 60,000 with three sureties, one to be justified and to report himself to the Police every Tuesday until the final determination of the case.