Man in trouble over sick note
2008-05-12 11:36
Johannesburg - Pulling a sickie over the long weekend with a fake doctor's note has led to fraud charges being laid against a Kempton Park employee and the arrest of the man allegedly selling the notes, Sebenza police said on Monday.
The scam was uncovered when a manager at car rental company Avis in Croydon decided to check all the sick notes presented by employees too ill to work on April 28 and 29, Constable Zenzile Murudi said.
All the doctors on the notes were contacted, and all but one checked out, said Murudi.
In this case, the doctor said the signature on the note was forged and pointed out that his notes were on white paper, not blue.
Police questioned the employee and he said he had bought the note from a man in Daveyton.
He was arrested on Friday.
Police then set up a sting, with a policeman phoning and ordering one of the notes, at a cost of R30 each.
The "mastermind" was arrested later on the same day in Daveyton and both he and the employee will appear in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court on Monday.
The doctor told police that he had had about 10 queries on his sick notes and had been under investigation by medical authorities on suspicion of generating false sick notes.
Murudi said police were considering a link between the arrested men and a former employee at the doctor's consulting rooms.
- SAPA