The medical professionals reportedly took money to issue fake sick leave certificates.

Qatar’s government has issued an order to refer two doctors working in a private medical practice as well as a nurse working for a healthcare institution to the criminal court, according to Marsalqatar. 

The suspects were accused of obtaining money illegally in exchange for issuing false medical certificates involving sick leaves, according to a Qatari outlet.

The Public Prosecution of the State of Qatar released a statement saying: “The Public Prosecution had completed investigations with the accused who had previously been arrested in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health. The Ministry’s employees, who had judicial police powers, uncovered these crimes, filed reports about them, and referred them to the Public Prosecution.” 

“The Public Prosecution’s investigations revealed that the defendants had obtained sums of money in exchange for issuing false medical certificates that included forged sick leaves to a number of individuals working for government agencies to enable them to obtain official leaves from their employers,” the statement added. 

“The actions carried out by the accused constitute the crime of forgery, in addition to the accused doctors’ violation of their duties and the ethics of the medical profession.”

Employees in Qatar are entitled to sick leave with pay.  However, the sickness has to be granted by a certificate from an official physician approved by the country as per Article (82) of the Gulf State’s law.