Data was provided under the Official Information Act by the Ministry of Health to the New Zealand Herald.
A man accused of practising for years as a dentist in West Auckland without the required registration or qualifications has been hit with a slew of new charges, including an accusation he endangered the safety of his patients.
Narayan Prasad, of Manurewa, was already heading to trial afterpleading not guilty to 77 charges laid by the Ministry of Health last year when he appeared before Judge Maria Pecotic in the Waitakere District Court this week.
At Wednesday’s hearing it emerged the Ministry has since laid a further 13 charges. They include six each of allegedly breaching the Radiation Safety Act and Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act, plus one Crimes Act charge of allegedly committing criminal nuisance by doing an unlawful act, or failing to discharge any legal duty knowing he would endanger the lives, safety or health of the public.
Prasad pleaded not guilty via his lawyer Krishneel Prasad to the new charges. He is set to face a two week Judge-alone trial on the 90 charges but no date has been set for the fixture.
The Ministry claims he repeatedly misrepresented himself as a dentist to patients over several years while working out of the since-closed Hill Park Henderson dental clinic on Great North Rd, performing procedures only a dentist is allowed to perform. He is also accused of illegally issuing prescriptions and performing X-Rays, over a four-year period from 2018.
The premises upstairs in downtown Henderson where alleged imposter dentist Narayan Prasad practised for several years. He is heading to trial on dozens of charges. Photo / Jason Dorday
At a hearing in March, his lawyer argued his name suppression should continue. Herald publisher NZME and prosecutor Hannah Reid, acting for the Ministry, opposed ongoing suppression.
Judge Lisa Tremewan declined Prasad’s application for continuing name suppression but suppressed his submissions in favour of suppression.
The West Auckland clinic where Prasad operated was in Great North Rd in downtown Henderson.
It is now a tattoo studio.
Staff at the Thai massage and spa next door said they had not seen him for a couple of years.
The former clinic still bears the signage of Hill Park Dental.
There were formerly a series of clinics around Auckland under the Hill Park name but the only one that remains is the Manurewa practice, now under new ownership and with no links to Prasad, a current manager said.
He faces a further 25 charges of performing a restricted activity, namely dental procedures, without being a health practitioner permitted to perform that activity, each carrying a maximum penalty of a $30,000 fine.
Prasad also denies 13 charges of forgery related to prescriptions he allegedly issued. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment if convicted of forgery.
The final 13 charges relate to the accusation he used a radiation source — an X-ray machine — without a licence.
Under the Radiation Safety Act, he faces a maximum fine of $100,000 if convicted. An unqualified person claiming to be a health practitioner can be fined up to $10,000 for each offence.
Judge Pecotic remanded Prasad on bail on the same terms, including conditions to reside at his Manurewa home and to not claim to be a dentist.
George Block is an Auckland-based reporter with a focus on police, the courts, prisons and defence. He joined the Herald in 2022 and has previously worked at Stuff in Auckland and the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.
