Two surgeons allegedly took secret payments to ensure public hospitals purchased or leased more than $2.8 million in medical equipment and surgical implants, a court has heard.

Spine surgeons Dr Richard William Laherty, 53, and Dr Dihan Taranga Aponso, 45, faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday, each on multiple counts of misconduct in public office and official corruption.

The pair were among five people charged in December following an investigation by Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission and the Office of the Health Ombudsman.

Dr Laherty and Dr Aponso “corruptly received … secret payments from medical device company Medivance in return for using surgical devices supplied by Medivance while performing surgery” at public hospitals in Brisbane, prosecutors alleged in court documents.