A man attempting to fraudulently register as a veterinarian in New Zealand has been convicted and fined $7,000 by the Wellington District Court, RNZ has reported.
Siddharth Tushar Vaishnav, a qualified veterinarian from India, applied to register with the Veterinary Council of New Zealand in February 2024. As part of his application, he submitted a certified copy of a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree he claimed to have earned from the University of Melbourne.
The council initially granted him provisional registration, but during a routine verification process, the University of Melbourne confirmed that Vaishnav had never been enrolled there. When confronted, Vaishnav provided a transcript which was also found to be falsified. Consequently, his registration was cancelled in March 2024 before he could commence practice.
Vaishnav was found guilty of knowingly using false documents to obtain registration, an offence under the Veterinarians Act 2005. The court imposed a fine of $7,000.
Deputy Registrar of the Veterinary Council, Liam Shields, said this was the first case of its kind in New Zealand, RNZ reported. Shields emphasised the seriousness of presenting false documentation and highlighted how easily fake degrees and academic transcripts can now be obtained. Shields stressed the importance of thorough verification with tertiary institutions to ensure the safety of both people and animals.
He also noted that Vaishnav’s Indian veterinary qualification was not automatically recognised in New Zealand and that he would have been required to undertake further study or pass the Australasian Veterinary Examination (AVE) to qualify to practise in the country.
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