Man Arrested For Impersonating Harvard-Trained Anesthesiologist At Hospital

A California man was arrested and charged Thursday with impersonating a Harvard-trained anesthesiologist at the Sharp Grossmont Hospital in San Diego.

The suspect, Zaid Bassam Jeorge, 27, was found in the hospital’s doctors lounge wearing scrubs, a stethoscope and a physician’s coat, with a name tag that read: "Zaid Jorge, MD Anesthesiologist," the Los Angeles Times reported.

When hospital officials questioned Jeorge, they determined that he was not a doctor. He failed to provide any form of identification and claimed that he was a Swedish student on assignment at the hospital, which proved false. Doctors and staff at the hospital said they did not know who Jeorge was.

Officers from the La Mesa police department probed Jeorge’s car, which was parked near the hospital. Inside they found two passports and an El Cajon address. Jeorge also had on his person a cellphone with Arabic messages displayed on it and keys to Mercedes-Benz rental car.

According to a police report, Jeorge maintained a false LinkedIn account that stated he was a Harvard graduate practicing medicine at Sharp for about a year. The profile also had misleading photos of Jeorge in a lab coat pretending to work at the facility.

Officials conducted a psychiatric evaluation that cleared Jeorge of hospitalization. He was arrested on suspicion of false impersonation and attempting to practice without a license, according to jail records obtained by the Times. San Diego’s Joint Terrorism Task Force was made aware of the incident.

In California, practicing medicine without a license is considered a "wobbler" offense, meaning that offenders can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the crime. If convicted of a misdemeanor, an offender can face up to 364 days in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000 or both. If convicted of a felony, the offender can face a sentence of up to 16 months, a maximum of three years in state prison, a $10,000 fine or a fine and imprisonment.