‘Fake Doctor’ could face criminal charges as Chief Magistrate, university confirm his CV is a lie
Mikhail McLennan, of whom little is known except for the fact that he pretended to be a medical doctor and was taken in by organisations such as the Guyana Cancer Foundation, could soon face criminal charges.
This is according to Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Narine Singh.
During a telephone conversation on Wednesday, Singh said it is a criminal offence to impersonate a doctor and noted that while the Ministry of Health and the Medical Council is prevented from conducting their own investigation, a report will be made to the police.
“We cannot call him in and investigate because he is not a member of the medical professional so the matter will be handed over to the police,” Dr. Singh said.
McLennan has admitted that he joined the Guyana Cancer Foundation about three weeks ago as a volunteer. But on Tuesday, President and Founder Bibi Hassan said she took him in as a volunteer because he presented himself as a medical doctor.
“I questioned him about his Medical Degree and he refused to send a copy of it to us. He said he is working as a Medical Officer/Pharmacist at ROK Pharmacy and there is no such pharmacy that exist,” she said in a statement.
There are claims that McLennan secured jobs at other private health facilities and even treated someone wrongfully in the past.
Dr. Singh said there was a similar incident just about three months ago and that matter has since been forwarded to the Guyana Police Force.
But based on his own experience, he said these cases of doctor impersonation are sporadic and not prevalent.
“Over the years we have seen a couple of cases. Three months ago, a guy was advertising and we reported the matter to the police. It pops up occasionally, one and two cases,” he added.
Interestingly, in his CV presented to the cancer foundation, Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan is listed as a reference. In an interview with the News Room, the young man said she is his aunt.
But in a Facebook post, the Chief Magistrate has denied being a relative of McLennan.
“This character never approached me to be a reference for him and I am in no way related to him,” she said.
That CV also claimed that he is a former student at Queen’s College and Texila American University. He also told the News Room that he is a medical student at the University of Guyana – a claim he repeated in his apology.
Sources at Queens College and Texila have denied that he attended the institutions.
“Mr. Michail Radius McLennan is not a student or graduate of Texila American University. The said individual has never enrolled in any programs offered by Texila American University,” the university said in a statement.
And while the University of Guyana has not released an official statement, a senior administrator told the News Room on Wednesday that the institution has not been able to confirm that he is or was a student there.
“Our registry is looking into it… my guess is that he was never a student enrolled.
“We have to check our records and that’s difficult because if we have someone with the same name we would have to make sure that it is not him and without his date of birth it’s not so easy,” the source said.
UG’s records and data management division was up to noon on Wednesday not able to confirm that McLennan is or was a student there.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The University of Guyana subsequently issued a statement and confirmed that Mikhail Mclennon was never registered as a student at any of the University of Guyana campuses
