Counsel appointed to probe account manipulation claims
Mediclinic has appointed Steven Powell, head of law firm ENSafrica's forensics practice, to head its independent audit following claims of account manipulation, reports Fin24.
As previously reported, a person who claims to be a former Mediclinic employee sent an email to more than 50 principal officers of some of SA's largest medical schemes.
It contained detailed information about what the person claimed to be their experience as a former clinical case manager at six Mediclinic hospitals in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
The person paints a picture of widespread manipulation of patients' clinical coding (which is used for medical scheme claims) at these hospitals to Mediclinic's alleged financial benefit.
The alleged whistleblower sent an email directly to Greg van Wyk, CEO of Mediclinic Southern Africa, along with the initial recipients.
Van Wyk responded to the individual, while copying in all the recipients, to inform them that Powell would head the audit.
Powell is well known for his forensic work and conducted an investigation into IT group EOH, finding that it benefitted from state tender fraud.
His probe found that then-Deputy Security Mminister Zizi Kodwa received millions from EOH; Powell also testified at the State Capture Inquiry.
Van Wyk urged the author of the email to speak directly to Powell to shed more light on the allegations.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
