A 27-year-old woman, Mirian Santana, found herself in legal trouble on her first day at Coroados Hospital in São Paulo after healthcare professionals grew suspicious of her credentials. Mirian had treated 30 patients before confessing that she had purchased her medical degree online for a mere £6.
The hospital staff became wary when they checked her registration, which belonged to a genuine doctor, revealing that her claimed degree was acquired through an online purchase. Despite Mirian’s assertion that she had completed the course in 2022, investigations revealed that the program only commenced later that year. Upon confrontation at the hospital, Mirian admitted to buying her degree online and disclosed that she worked as a speech therapist, earning approximately £700 a day. She alleged securing the hospital job through an outsourcing company.
Mirian faced legal consequences, arrested for charges including the illegal exercise of a profession, ideological forgery, use of a false document, endangering lives, and attempted embezzlement. Authorities took her into custody in Tupi Paulista while further investigations into the alleged crimes took place.
This incident follows a separate case involving a plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Kirk Moore Jr., from Utah, US. He is accused of accepting bribes from anti-vax parents to administer fake Covid-19 vaccinations to their children. The alleged scheme involved injecting kids with saline shots instead of genuine Covid-19 jabs and providing them with forged vaccination cards for a staggering £80,000.
The allegations extend to Dr. Moore’s destruction of tens of thousands of dollars worth of actual Covid-19 vaccines, which he reportedly poured down the drain. Prosecutors condemn these actions as not only endangering the health of a vulnerable population but also eroding public trust in healthcare systems. Dr. Moore, along with two staff members and a neighbour, faces charges related to conspiracy, fraud, and misuse of government property. The charges encompass conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to convert, sell, convey, and dispose of government property, and aiding and abetting in the conversion, sale, conveyance, and disposal of government property. The alleged fake Covid scheme operated out of Dr. Moore’s Plastic Surgery Institute of Utah Inc. office.