Police have again moved against surgeons accused of performing illegal kidney transplants at Durban's St Augustine's Hospital - and this time hospital group Netcare, which is accused of reaping more than R22 million from the operations. Its CEO, Richard Friedland, will also be in the dock. In total, they face hundreds of charges, including fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and contraventions of the Human Tissues Act, relating to 109 operations at the hospital, between 2001 and 2003, in which poor people - mainly Brazilians - were paid to donate their kidneys to Israeli patients.
In a statement, Netcare said: "After several years of co-operating fully with the South African Police Service and providing the investigating officer with countless affidavits it has come as a great surprise and disappointment that the prosecuting authority has seen it fit to bring charges against Netcare Limited, Netcare KZN and Dr Richard Friedland, chief executive officer of Netcare. "Netcare Limited, Netcare KZN and Dr Friedland vigorously deny any wrongdoing and intend to defend the charges." Summonses were served on them on Wednesday.
Former St Augustine's transplant unit staffers Lindy Dickson and Melanie Azor, nephrologist Jeffrey Kallmeyer, surgeons Ariff Haffejee, John Robbs, Neil Christopher and Mahadev Naidoo, and Hebrew translator Samuel Ziegler are also named among the accused listed on the summons. They will appear in the specialised commercial crimes court in November and the trial - to be prosecuted by Robin Palmer of the University of KwaZulu-Natal - will be heard in the Durban High Court when both donors and recipients of kidneys will testify.
Police investigations into the alleged international syndicate date back to 2003 and the surgeons and St Augustine's transplant co-ordinators were arrested and charged previously. However, charges were provisionally withdrawn four years ago because the State was not ready to proceed with the trial.
Investigations under Captain Louis Helberg continued and now the hospital group, which was previously the complainant and has always denied any wrongdoing, and Friedland are listed as accused. In the attached summary of substantial facts, it is alleged that Friedland, who was also a director of Netcare KwaZulu-Natal, was aware that illegal transplant operations were being done at the hospital but "permitted them to continue". "He was, as CEO, responsible for Netcare employees' non-compliance with the ministerial guidelines and with Netcare's internal organ transplant policies," it states. With regards to Netcare and the hospital, "they allowed their employees and facilities to be used to conduct illegal kidney operations" benefiting by R22.6m, it is alleged.
A new charge against all accused relates to allegations that five of the donors were 20 at the time and unable to give consent to donate an organ. Other charges relate to money which changed hands. State witnesses are cited as Netcare's former national transplant co-ordinator, Belinda Rossi, and the syndicate boss, Israeli Ilan Perry, who was himself facing charges and was under arrest in Germany on a South African warrant, but has now turned State witness.
The modus operandi, according to an annexure to the summons, was that in early 2001 Rossi went to Israel to assess the feasibility of performing kidney transplants on Israelis at Netcare hospitals. Subsequent to this, Netcare, Perry, St Augustine's Hospital and Kallmeyer set up the "illegal scheme" with Perry initially being given an exclusive deal with the hospital group. The kidney donors were initially sourced from Israel, but later Romanian and Brazilians were recruited more cheaply.
Kidney recipients paid between $100 000 and $120 000 to Perry or his company, UDG, for a transplant while the donors were paid as little as $6 000. Donors were accommodated and chaperoned in South Africa by agents employed by Perry. Both donors and recipients signed documents falsely declaring that they were relatives. UDG or its agents would pay Netcare prior to the operations and Netcare and |the hospital would, in turn, pay the surgeons.
Kallmeyer - who is presently living in Canada - received direct payments from UDG and Perry totalling $150 700; "illegal proceeds" which were deposited in overseas bank accounts in Canada and the Cayman Islands, the State alleges. The Mercury believes that should he not return to South Africa, attempts would be made to extradite him.
Police confirm they arrested Israeli Agania Robel as he was discharged from St Augustine's hospital after a kidney transplant. Sushan Meir, an alleged syndicate co-ordinator, is also arrested as are several other people in Brazil and Israel. Another alleged co-ordinator, Durban-based Roderick Frank Kimberly, is arrested. Agania Robel pleads guilty in the Durban Regional Court to fraud and contravening the Human Tissues Act. He admits paying R270 000 for a kidney donated by an unrelated Brazilian man. He gets a suspended sentence, a R5 000 fine and forfeits R33 500 to State.
Kimberly pleads guilty in the Durban Regional Court to his role in 38 illegal kidney transplants at St Augustine's. He says he was approached by Israeli Ilan Perry to look after donors and recipients. He implicates the surgeons and transplant clinic staff. He is given a six-year suspended sentence and is fined R250 000. Nephrologist Jeff Kallmeyer and St Augustine's staffer Lindy Dickson are arrested with Hebrew interpreter Samuel Ziegler. Dickson's colleague Melanie Azor is arrested a few days later
November 30, 2004: Sushan Meir admits receiving over R1.4 million for arranging 56 illegal kidney transplants. Sentenced to six years in jail, suspended for five years and a fine of R250 000. John Robbs, head of surgery at Durban's Nelson Mandela Medical School, and his deputy, Ariff Haffejee, Neil Christopher, Mahadev Naidoo and Kapil Satyapal are arrested and appear in court in connection with 109 illegal operations. The charges are provisionally withdrawn.
Source: IoL
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