Dalya Karezi charged with falsely representing as doctor

A former NSW Health employee presented herself as a doctor and plugged scrubs, nail polish and health explanations to millions on TikTok before her ruse was uncovered.

Dalya Karezi appeared at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.

A young NSW Health employee presented herself as a doctor to millions on TikTok and invoked her fake qualification to secure employment with the NSW Cancer Institute, a court has heard.

Dalya Karezi was reaching millions of people with her informative TikTok and Instagram videos about sexual health, paracetamol poisoning, HIV and promoted herself as a doctor to secure employment with the NSW Cancer Institute.

An investigation found Karezi had never studied medicine, much less been qualified as a doctor or an OBGYN specialist as she had repeatedly identified herself both in professional emails and to more than 250,000 social media followers.

She has pleaded guilty to offences under the National Law which pertain to using protected titles such as doctor without qualification.

It is illegal to use certain medical titles such as doctor or surgeon without the legislated requirements for qualification, registration and experience.

The Downing Centre Local Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Karezi, 30, appeared at Downing Centre Local Court for sentence before Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis on Thursday, where he relayed a summary of agreed facts detailing her shocking conduct between May 2020 and September 2021.

“The defendant had approximately 243,000 followers on TikTok, some videos had been liked by 1.5 million TikTok users [and] individual videos range between 10,000 and 15.5 million views,” Mr Tsavdaridis said.

“She has on most occasions either referred to herself as Dr Dalya Karezi and in others held herself out in a way which suggested she was a doctor … by virtue of the images of her wearing a stethoscope and hospital scrubs.”

The now-deleted TikTok content was said to have discussed ovarian cancer, foods for toddlers, uterine fibroids, paracetamol overdoses, sexual health, alcohol, drugs, testosterone, fertility, and HIV.

She also had approximately 10,000 followers on Instagram where she posted similar content.

During her employment as a project co-ordinator for NSW Health’s Multicultural Health Communication Service, she sent 17 emails in which she variously referred to herself as doctor and with MBBS letters to indicate she had a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.

She also referred to herself as having a Masters of Reproductive Medicine, which she did not at the time, but later obtained from UNSW.

“She applied for a job at the NSW Cancer Institute which did not require registration, in circumstances where she held herself out to have obtained a Bachelor of Medicine from Western Sydney University,” Mr Tsavdaridis said.

“She ultimately accepted an offer of employment.”

The court heard Karezi now works in insurance at the Commonwealth Bank.

Karezi’s barrister Erasmus Lovell-Jones ultimately requested a non-conviction, noting his client’s “powerful subjective” case in terms of her difficult childhood.

“She’s been exposed to a high degree of traumatic stress,” Mr Lovell-Jones said.

Dalya Karezi after being sentenced at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.

He said Karezi had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and had shown conditions relating to panic disorder.

Mr Lovell-Jones also highlighted that Karezi “did not have the care of any patients or provide medical care to any patients”.

He said Karezi had met a person at a multicultural community event who believed she had studied medicine and encouraged her to apply for the NSW Cancer Institute role.

Mr Lovell-Jones attributed his client’s failure to correct the person to her psychological vulnerability.

However, it was refuted by AHPRA’s prosecutor who said it wasn’t “simply a matter of saying not saying no” and it required “no small amount of effort” to curate the prolific social media profiles.

She said a conviction was appropriate, and Karezi was ultimately convicted and placed on a two-year community correction order by Mr Tsavdaridis.

AHPRA issued a statement on Tuesday confirming Karezi had been charged with National Law offences.

AHPRA stated Karezi has never been registered with the Medical Board of Australia.

The maximum potential penalties for such offences dating from July 1 2019 are $60,000 each and a potential jail sentence of up to three years.

The maximum sentence in the local court is two years.