SINGAPORE – A doctor specialising in aesthetic services was sentenced to four months’ jail on July 29 after he forged four certificates of competence (COCs) and submitted them to the Ministry of Health (MOH).

Bernard Tan Wen Sheng committed the offences to obtain a licence for his medical practice, and two of the COCs pertained to workshops he had not attended at the time.

On June 30, Tan, 35,

pleaded guilty to two counts of forgery

and one count of giving false information to a public servant. Two other forgery charges were considered during his sentencing.

In sentencing him, District Judge James Elisha Lee stressed that the MOH  regulatory framework is meant to safeguard public health and safety.

The judge also said that Tan had knowingly committed offences against MOH – a public institution – and had shown a blatant disregard for the ministry’s regulatory process.

In earlier proceedings, the court heard that COCs are a crucial part of the regulatory process, which MOH uses to decide if an application for a clinic licence should be granted.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ariel Tan told the court in June that on or before February 2023, Tan decided to set up his medical practice Bay Aesthetics Clinic, at Marina Bay Link Mall.

He then submitted an application for a clinic licence to MOH.

Court documents stated that to obtain a COC, an applicant must attend a workshop for a particular aesthetic procedure and pass the requisite examination. The Aesthetic Dermatology Education Group (ADEG) would then issue the COC.

On Feb 20, 2023, a manager from MOH’s Hospital Ambulatory Care & Research Regulation Department conducted an inspection of Tan’s clinic via video-link.

The next day, she e-mailed him to ask for COCs relating to three services – botulinum toxin injections, fillers and chemical peels.

Tan then realised that he did not have some of the relevant COCs and decided to alter his wife’s COCs to create his own.

He obtained four COCs which were issued to his wife, who had passed the examinations in 2017.

The certificates were linked to workshops relating to four different procedures – chemical peels, assisted lasers or intense pulsed light for hair removal (IPL hair removal), fillers, and botulinum toxin injections.

Tan then printed out his name on paper with a font size similar to his wife’s details on the COCs and placed it on each of the COCs to cover his wife’s details.

He then scanned the certificates one by one, with his name positioned neatly above the line where the workshop attendee’s name was written.

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At around 2.30pm on Feb 21, 2023, Tan sent the scanned copies of the forged certificates to the manager via e-mail.

DPP Tan told the court that Tan had, in fact, attended workshops involving fillers and botulinum toxin injections in 2017, but had lost the COCs for them. He had not attended workshops involving chemical peels and IPL hair removal at the time, added the prosecutor.

On Feb 27, 2023, the manager sent Tan another e-mail, stating that ADEG could not find records of his purported attendance of the latter two workshops.

She then asked him for either the original COCs or an e-mail confirmation from ADEG of his attendance of the relevant workshops.

Tan sent an e-mail the next day, insisting that he had attended the courses in May 2017.

The application was eventually approved on March 13, 2023, and Tan was allowed to provide services involving fillers and botulinum toxin injections.

He provided chemical peel and IPL hair removal services after he attended workshops for them in April that year.

Court documents did not disclose how his offences came to light, but he was charged in court in 2024.

Tan’s bail was set at $20,000 on July 29, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on Aug 15.