An Ottawa man is in custody for allegedly posing as a dentist, although police can only confirm he has worked as a dental assistant at two Ottawa clinics.
Police received a call from the National Dental Examining Board of Canada (NDEB) that someone was attempting to take dental exams on May 27-28 with falsified credentials. In order to write the exam, applicants must have a degree from an accredited dental school.
The investigation revealed that the man allegedly accessed the university credentials of a real dentist in Minnesota and changed the name on those credentials into his own. Further investigation showed that the man was working in different capacities at two different dental clinics in Ottawa, while also openly portraying himself online as a dentist.
“He tried to do the dental exam with fake transcripts from the University of Minnesota, so (it was) identity theft,” said Ottawa police fraud Det. Shaun Wahbeh. “The National Dental Examining Board does the background check and when he said he graduated from the University of Minnesota, they contact the university, they get the transcripts, but then the University of Minnesota said something is not right here and they started the investigation.”
Omar Anwar, 29, of Ottawa, is charged with three counts of uttering a forged document; two counts of obtaining employment by false pretence; one count of personating a dentist; and one count of possessing the identity documents of another.
His Instagram account is filled with selfies — some with him posing with leased luxury cars, including a Lamborghini he named “Ava” — where he portrays himself as a dental surgeon, even posing with a t-shirt that says “I am a Dental Surgeon, do you think a sane person would do this job?” He also suggests in one photo that he was doing surgery on May 5 with hashtags that include #dentist #surgery #hardwork.
His LinkedIn account said he worked as a dental-oral surgeon at Harmony Dentistry from June 2014 to present.
However, Wahbeh said police can’t confirm Anwar has done anything but dental assistant work.
“If I could prove he had been doing any dentistry or hygiene, I would have charged him with assault,” said Wahbeh. “But I don’t have that information, all I have is that he worked in clinics, but as a dental assistant.”
A receptionist at Harmony Dentistry on Cyrville Road was reluctant to speak about Anwar but confirmed he worked at the dental clinic for a short period “shadowing” other hygienists and dentists until he “passed his exams.”
Kim Phillips, communications manger with the NDEB, said 900 people write that exam each year and this type of identity fraud is rare.
“It’s very unusual, it’s not something we come across very often,” said Phillips. “We do a detailed credential evaluation on all applicants, and I think we’ve seen this two times in the last 20 years.”
She said had Anwar taken the exam and passed with a certificate, he would have had to go through several more steps before he would have been able to practice in a specific province.
Anwar lists several institutions on his LinkedIn account (which, along with his other social media accounts, were shut down or made private Friday afternoon) where he obtained degrees, including the University of Calgary where he said he completed a master’s degree in internal medicine in 2011; and a health sciences degree from the University of Ottawa in 2010. The University of Ottawa could only confirm that a student by the same name completed an Honours Bachelor in Health Sciences (BHSc) in 2011.
His home address is listed in Alta Vista. On Friday afternoon his mother answered the phone. When asked if he was a dentist, she said “yes.” Asked where he went to dental school she said “Spain.” After further questions, she said “do you mind if he calls you, I’m not doing well right now.”
Anwar was taken into custody and was granted bail Friday afternoon.
Late Friday afternoon, Anwar’s lawyer, Paolo Giancaterino, said his client does not wish to comment at this time.
Organized fraud investigators would like to hear from anyone who believes they received dental care from Anwar.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call Ottawa police organized fraud unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 5292. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS), or by downloading the Ottawa police app.
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