GP accused of claiming MBS rebates for dead patients

Dr Tony Bakare has been charged with obtaining financial advantage by deception
Australian Associated Press
Dr Tony Bakare
Dr Tony Bakare.

A GP accused of claiming MBS rebates for providing services to dead patients has fronted court after being charged with fraud.

Dr Tony Bakare allegedly defrauded Medicare of $360,000, including some claims lodged while he was overseas, between 2014 and 2017.

The Queensland GP, who at the time owned four bulk-billing GP clinics on the Gold Coast, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of obtaining financial advantage by deception in the Brisbane District Court.

On Monday, the first day of the trial, the investigator who reviewed Dr Bakare’s MBS claims showed the jury a spreadsheet with more than 7500 rows of claims she said were fraudulent.