Surgeon Dr James Ian Spark pleads guilty to defrauding $50k+ from health authorities
The fraud case against this “extraordinary” surgery specialist has been cut short after prosecutors diagnosed confession as the cure.
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A pioneer surgeon specialising in “extraordinary” conditions has admitted defrauding more than $50,000 from state health authorities by claiming money for operations he did not perform.
On Monday, Dr James Ian Spark was due to stand trial in the Adelaide Magistrates Court over allegations he committed fraud on 25 occasions at the Flinders Medical Centre, totalling $65,000.
That scheduled month-long trial did not go ahead, however, after prosecutors revealed they had brokered an out-of-court resolution to the long-running matter.
Dr Spark instead pleaded guilty to seven counts of deception, admitting he falsified eight time-sheets involving surgical call-backs for 23 patients to defraud a total of $50,694.15.
He also pleaded guilty to one count of attempted deception, over one time-sheet involving two patients and totalling $7009.59 - which he did not receive.
Magistrate Ben Sale, who was due to preside over the trial, congratulated the parties on reaching a resolution without having to call on the dozens of witnesses expected to give evidence.
“The charges, to an extent, speak for themselves as to what the doctor has done,” he said.
“Now I have to work out what to do with myself for the next month … I’m sure there will be something.”
Dr Spark, 56, of Kingswood, is a renowned and highly-regarded surgeon who has been praised as “a pioneer” in the field of “extraordinary or unusual medical presentations”.
He was originally charged with 56 counts of deceiving another to benefit himself following an ICAC investigation.
Court documents alleged he defrauded $65,429.92 from SA Health by falsely claiming for he either did not perform or was involved on only tangentially.
They further alleged those offences occurred at the Flinders Medical Centre – where Dr Spark consulted as a vascular surgeon – on 25 occasions between June 26, 2017 and April 27, 2018.
Those 25 occasions, the papers alleged, were “call backs” – when surgeons are asked to return to the hospital to perform or consult on emergency surgeries.
Although the Medical Board allowed Dr Spark to continue practising despite his prosecution, it ordered he be supervised when conducting some procedures.
The Board and Dr Spark also agreed he would not perform Nutcracker Syndrome surgeries – arising from a rare vein compression disorder – at all.
On Monday, prosecutors filed new paperwork with the court, replacing the original 25 charges with seven counts of deception and one count of attempted deception.
Dr Peter Salu, prosecuting, said the new charges “wrapped up” the originally-alleged offending into a “better representation” of Dr Spark’s conduct.
Mr Sale remanded Dr Spark - who is not on bail - to face court again in three weeks for sentencing submissions.
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