Cape Times reports that disgraced audiologist and speech therapist Wandile Theophilus Mashego has been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of 259 counts of medical aid fraud.
He was also convicted on another count for contravening the Medical Aid Schemes Act. The sentence was wholly suspended for five years, on condition he pays back the R506,000 he defrauded from Bonitas Medical Fund, which brought the case following the discovery and investigation of the crimes. Bonitas COO Kenneth Marion said Mashego had submitted fraudulent claims on behalf of Bonitas members during 2014 and 2015. A soon-to-be-identified “runner” had provided details of Bonitas members to Mashego, who then billed Bonitas fraudulently, for “services” to these members. Marion indicated that about 15% of claims in the health-care industry had an element of fraud, waste and abuse, translating into a loss of R190m for a scheme the size of Bonitas. He said guilty parties were found all along the health-care delivery chain, including medical practitioners, employees, service providers and fund members. Current trends seemed to be “phoney doctors or medical practitioners” who submitted claims using other doctors’ practice numbers.
- Read this report by Raphael Wolf in full at Cape Times
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