Grinning doctor accused of defrauding Medicare 4000 times for $350,000 says it was because of a system error
- Queensland doctor accused of defrauding Medicare out of more than $350,000
- Tony Mufutau Oluwatoyin Bakare denies lodging thousands of false claims
- Barrister said it made no sense for Bakare to deliberately submit false claims
A Queensland doctor accused of defrauding Medicare out of more than $350,000 says there is no evidence he didn’t provide services to the patients.
Tony Mufutau Oluwatoyin Bakare denies lodging thousands of false claims for providing services to patients who had died, or on dates when he was overseas.
His barrister Mark McCarthy admits Bakare could not have seen patients on the dates provided in Medicare’s online claim system.
Tony Mufutau Oluwatoyin Bakare (pictured) denies lodging thousands of false claims for providing services to patients who had died, or on dates when he was overseas
But that did not mean he had not provided the services on other occasions.
Mr McCarthy said it made no sense for Bakare to deliberately submit false claims.
The Crown’s case depends on Bakare deliberately telling the ‘most ridiculous lie 4000 times,’ Mr McCarthy told the Brisbane District Court trial on Wednesday.
Mr McCarthy says there must have been a ‘system error’ because the prosecution’s case ‘just makes no sense’.
Prosecutor Daniel Caruana said Bakare was lodging claims, knowing the dates for providing the services were incorrect.
Among the claims were six submitted for a woman, starting two days after she died, Mr Caruana told the court.
His barrister Mark McCarthy admits Bakare could not have seen patients on the dates provided in Medicare’s online claim system
He argued that Bakare had also submitted claims for about 200 services while he was overseas in April and May 2014.
The pattern of the claims wasn’t consistent with poor record-keeping, but is consistent with deliberate deception, Mr Caruana said.