An Indian imposter doctor who faked medical records to get a high-paying job at a New Zealand hospital where he saw dozens of patients has applied for parole, claiming he was driven by a desire to satisfy parental expectations.
Serial liar Yuvaraj Krishnan, 32, was sentenced to three years and seven months’ jail in April 2023 after pleading guilty to 14 charges relating to his forging of documents in order to work at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland, where he treated 81 patients over a six-month period before being found out.
Krishnan told a Parole Board hearing last month he was motivated by a belief, that he now understands was mistaken, that his parents had high expectations of him becoming a doctor, Stuff reported. He made the same claim in a “cultural report” during his trial, resulting in a 5% sentence discount.
His lawyer Shane Tait said: “He now understands that was not necessarily their belief, but internally he was of that view.”
Krishnan also provided his own psychological report stating he was at low risk of reoffending and had not received treatment.
But the board declined his application after deciding he presented “undue risk to the safety of the community” and needed to see a psychologist before his next hearing, which is due by the end of November.
“Given the significant risk and gravity of Mr Krishnan’s offending, his explanations go some way to identifying the drivers of his offending, but equally the conventional tools that the Board has at hand, do not really assist us in understanding the full drivers of this man’s offending, his future risk and how best to mitigate that risk by way of treatment, safety planning and the like,” the board said.
Sentencing notes by Judge Nevin Dawson at the Manukau District Court reveal that Krishnan was first caught engaging in deceptive behaviour while attending biomedical degree classes at the University of Auckland in 2011 and 2012, despite having his application rejected for not meeting the academic standards.
He then studied in Australia, returned to New Zealand and worked as an immigration officer, and moved to Poland where he started a new degree in medicine but did not graduate.
In 2020 he falsely claimed to have a medical degree from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, a Master of Science from Sydney University and experience as a health officer at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment on his CV, and got a job as a Covid-19 case and contact team member paying $65,000.
Days after applying for that job Krishnan was charged over a hit and run crash in Auckland and pleaded guilty, but appealed his conviction in April the following year, using forged documents and a sworn affidavit falsely claiming he has passed medical examinations to gain full registration as a doctor in New Zealand.
He won his appeal and was discharged without conviction.
In September 2021 he used similar forged documents to apply for a new position at the Auckland District Health Board, but was unsuccessful and three months later applied for a job as a research fellow in respiratory at Middlemore Hospital, a medically trained position.
Krishnan used more forged documents, which included emails and certificates, and successfully attained the position in February 2022.
“You were able to work as a doctor in the respiratory research fellowship position until 1 August 2022 on a base salary of $104,080. During that time you saw 63 patients in clinic and approximately 18 patients in your research capacity,’ Judge Dawson told Krishnan.
“You conducted some respiratory related chest examinations, prescribed medicines and made referrals.
“You were discovered after a fellow student from your Auckland University days, who was by then a doctor, who recognised your name on a medical referral document. He raised the alarm with the Medical Council on 20 June 2022 and the information was provided to Middlemore on 29 July 2022.”
Krishnan pretended to be shocked, claimed it was a mistake and continued to deny wrongdoing, but was dismissed in early August.
He then immediately began to use a CV containing similar falsehoods while applying to be a dermatologist at New Zealand Skin Health.
After a reference check turned up news stories about Krishnan’s dismissal from Middlemore Hospital he was not hired. During the time he was applying for the position, Krishnan was searching Google for information on how to conduct skin procedures such as mole removals and excisions.
He also unsuccessfully applied for a clinical doctor position at the Eddison Clinic in Auckland at the same time, claiming he was trained in Poland and a registered doctor in the United States, and again using the same CV containing false information.
Judge Dawson said Krishnan’s conduct was “inexcusable” but reduced his sentence by 40% from the maximum due to his guilty pleas, “previous good character”, remorse, attendance at restorative justice, psychiatric report, and “cultural report” which also said he was trying to meet family expectations.
