Dumb bureaucrats won't protect you from con-men

From: Australian Politics

A CONMAN posing as a psychologist was able to fool NSW health authorities with a PhD bought for $250 on the internet, police say. Using the alias Dr David Kaye, 45-year-old Ali Davut Sarikaya was allowed to treat police officers and public servants with the blessing of the state Government.

Mr Sarikaya, who was arrested by Harbourside police as he attempted to board a flight to New Zealand at Sydney airport, appeared in Central Local Court on Wednesday on fraud charges and was granted conditional bail. Police alleged the Turkish-born "doctor" claimed to be a trained psychologist, despite holding no formal qualifications apart from a bachelor of arts. His patients included police officers, prison guards and senior legal figures who were referred to his medical practice in central Sydney through WorkCover NSW.

A statement of facts tendered to the court said Mr Sarikaya had "deceived" numerous government departments and organisations since moving to Sydney in 1997. The court heard Mr Sarikaya had been convicted of fraud offences of a "dishonest ... identity-type nature" in Victoria in 1994. In the years since, Mr Sarikaya, who runs trauma clinics in Sydney and Parramatta, had been building a profile as the fictitious Dr David Kaye. Police said he used this alias to avoid scrutiny of his Victorian criminal record.

The court heard that Mr Sarikaya had gained membership of several prestigious organisations, including the NSW Bar Association, by touting himself as a doctor, which he justified using a spurious PhD. "Inquiries indicate this PhD was purchased via the internet from an organisation in Minnesota, USA, for $249.95, and is by no means an official document enabling use of titles such as doctor," the court heard.

The police facts stated that Mr Sarikaya also obtained several identity cards, including an Australian Health Professionals Association card, in the name of Dr David Kaye to help bolster his identity. The alleged facade was so convincing that Mr Sarikaya was approved to work as a psychologist under the NSW Health Department's Official Visitors Program. In 2006, he was appointed to the program for three years by then health minister John Hatzistergos, now the Attorney-General, who personally signed off his accreditation. It allowed the alleged fraudster to visit mental health patients in northern Sydney hospitals.

Update from Australian politics Blog:

On 22 May, 2010, a series of abusive comments supporting "Dr Kaye" were posted on this blog. I passed the most substantial one for publication and you can read it below. To get 4 comments on the same day after many months of no comment suggests orchestration and even the one now readable here is implausible. The writer claims to be a barrister but uses most unjudicial language.

As a fully qualified psychologist myself, I am aware of the sort of pap that "Kaye" purveys and know that it always has a certain following. I have however seen no evidence that its therapeutic outcomes are better than placebo.

Comments:

Anonymous said...


John Ray Blog Re: David Kaye

I am a colleague of david kaye and worked with him between 1997 and 1999. I am now a barrister with the victorian bar. I am appalled by the malicious smear campaign against david kaye and post this blog to set the record straight.

David Kaye PhD ClinMACA is the creator of Strategic Outcome Focused Therapy, "S.O.F.T. Thouch Therapy" in short. This form of therapy has been demonstrated to be effective for the treatment of acute grief, depression, anxiety and disorders of the self.

David spent 25 years working as a professional counsellor and psychotherapist, including undergraduate and post graduate training in psychology and counselling, 10 years of working under the professional supervision of eminent psychologists and psychiatrists, conducting assessments and providing professional counselling and psychotherapy services to thousands of people, David spent 6 years researching and writing his doctoral thesis which was awarded on 8 February 2000 and subsequently became a basis for his book Crossroads: Your Journey Within.

david has researched areas such as acute grief, depression, anxiety, family therapy and dynamics and hopelessness and has tried to find effective solutions to these intractable problems, often times at his own personal, emotional and financial cost.

This is contrary to the false information fabricated and perpetuated about David Kaye. For their own reasons a number of sociopathic and malicious people have sought to collude to cause damage to David Kaye personally and professionally. This nasty smear campaign has been done in the most sinister and malicious manner with very little regard for the consequences to David himself, his family, friends and equally importantly to his hundreds of traumatised patients.

David Kaye is not a fraud doctor or psychologist. This was an attempt to criminalise voluntary work that David Kaye did for 2 years and all charges brought against him by an officer- against whom David had filed a formal complaint with the NSW Police Integrity Commission on 5 July 2009 for attempting to extort $30K from him on 3 July 2009- were withdrawn due to lack of evidence. The NSW Health Professionals Registration Boards appointed Mr. Lou Saperas, the Manager of Investigations & Inspections to conduct a thorough investigation and after formally reporting to the Board at 2 meetings to make a determination on this matter on 31 August and 6 October 2009 the Board concluded that David Kaye had not represented himself falsely as a psychologist. David Kaye has done voluntary work in various private and government positions for over 23 years.

However, since 25 June 2009 and more so since 4 August 2009, a number of unethical, incompetent and disgraceful wanna be journalists such as Yoni Bashan, Lisa Muxworthy, Boel Erricksson and Brendan Hills have published false information about David Kaye and they should be ashamed to call themselves a Journalist which they are not. They are akin to a pack of rabid dogs, all housed under the same roof of a kennel called Nationwide News and they continue to infect everything with their dishonesty, deception and virulent diseases under the guise of journalism and public interest and call it a story. In fact, they are no more than pawns in a complex smear campaign to cause as much personal, professional, social and financial damage to David Kaye as possible. These hacks publish unchecked false information that lacks research. They are malicious, lack journalistic integrity and show a reckless indifference to the truth. They are fabricators of lies, deception and misinformation with an absolute disregard for the consequences of their dirty work.

If you wish to communicate with David Kaye or obtain a copy of his book Crossroads: Your Journey Within you can contact David directly on 0417 553 883 or via email at drdk63@gmail.com or write to him at GPO Box 5249 Sydney NSW Australia 2001. Or you can post your own blog in support.

Friends of David Kaye

5:16 PM

Anonymous said...

Of course it was written by him, no barrister with a name would support such utter nonsense, he'd never work again.

Actually none of his so called supporters have a name, but that wouldn't register with this charlatan as he's to busy writing the rubbish!

This creep Sarikaya/Kaye has been pursuing this criminal course for at least twenty years that I'm aware of.

1:31 PM
Anonymous said...

Re: David Kaye. I worked with David Kaye as the NSW State Manager at The Bensons Group and direct reported to him. I find it rionic that David Kaye has not been found guilty of anything in NSW to date. All the charges brought against- him by a corrupt detective who was reported to the NSW Police Integrity Commission on 5 July 2009 after he tried to extort 30K from David- have been withdrawn. So why is this man who has completed his undergrdauate degree from Monash and psychology major from Swinburne University and is a clinical member of his professional association and has dedicated 25 years of his life to helping those members of the community who are in need of help being pursued in this sinister manner?

I for sure have nothing bad to say about David Kaye. I found him to be honorable, ethical, professional and compassionate. Do we not need more people like that providing professional services?

P Davis
Sydney


3:40 PM
Anonymous said...

I'm shocked to read these testimonials professing this 'doctors' innocence and his legitimacy. This man is an uncaring selfish fraud and was as far from professional as one could get in his dealings with me, along with a host of other things which I wont go into. He completely ruined my case as well as being caught out breeching confidentiality, which I found very distressing as I was understandably vulnerable at the time. So I was stunned to find that this monster was still working as a councilor as I thought the authorities had dealt with him a while ago and he would've changed his ways hopefully. It just makes me shudder to think what this horror has been up to in the mean time.