Second delay to trial of doctor accused of issuing fake Covid jab papers

The trial of a 53-year-old doctor suspected of giving people fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates was postponed for a second time on Monday, almost seven months after it was first delayed.

The 53-year-old was due to appear on Monday at the Larnaca criminal court  for the start of the trial.

However, the court postponed the case, due to a large workload.

The court had postponed the case on April 11 for the same reason.

In January 2021, the defendant pleaded not guilty to 12 charges of conspiracy to defraud, drawing up a forged official document, circulation of a forged document, registration by false representations and false entries in records or other documents of the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO).

Six of the charges relate to one of his patients who died at the Famagusta reference hospital for coronavirus. Before he died, he confided to medical and nursing staff that he had secured a certificate of vaccination against Covid-19 without being vaccinated.

The remaining six charges relate to a second patient who also died while being treated for coronavirus at the reference hospital who also appeared in the Gesy system to have been vaccinated by the specific doctor but allegedly was not vaccinated.

The criminal court had ordered the 53-year-old be released on €50,000 bail and to hand over all his travel documents. His name was put on the stop list.