A group of women in Maryland are suing Prince George’s Hospital Center after discovering that their obstetrician faked his identity to secure a medical license.
Dr. Charles Akoda, whose real name is Oluwafemi Charles Igberase according to the US Attorney’s Office, pleaded guilty on November 15, 2016 to misusing a Social Security number to falsely obtain a medical license in Maryland.
Igberase entered the United States in October 1991 on a nonimmigrant visa, according to his plea agreement. He repeatedly used falsified social security numbers and information throughout the 90s to practice medicine and get into a residency program.
Prosecutors said Igberase was dismissed from a residency program in New Jersey in 2000 after it was discovered that the social security number he used did not belong to him.
In 2011, using a fabricated social security number and other forged documents in the name Charles John Nosa Akoda, he obtained a medical license in Maryland. Igberase went on to practice obstetrics and gynecology at Prince George’s Hospital Center, and even obtained medical privileges.
The lawsuit claims that the hospital did not verify Igberase’s identity. Igberase had also used fake immigration documents, medical diplomas, letters of recommendation and birth certificates to further conceal his true identity.
“Maybe they should have checked his social security number. They would have learned that he’s a fraud,” attorney Jonathon Schochor told NBC 4 News. “We’re suing them because they had an absolute obligation to complete a thorough appropriate background check on this physician, on this OB-GYN, to make sure he was not a fraud.”
In a statement emailed to NBC 4 News, Prince George’s Hospital Center said that Akoda had physicians’ licenses in good standing in Maryland and Virginia.
“We are disappointed that our expectation of integrity was not met in the case of Dr. Akoda given his complex sophisticated identity theft scheme,” the statement read.
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