A person fraudulently claiming to hold qualifications that would allow him to register as a vet in New Zealand has been convicted and fined $7,000 in the District Court.

Siddharth Tushar Vaishnav, who is registered as a veterinarian in India, applied for registration as a veterinarian with the Veterinary Council of New Zealand in February 2024, after providing a certified copy of a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree he said he had obtained from the University of Melbourne.

The Council registered Vaishnav in February 2024 but during a routine enquiry, undertaken as part of the registration process, the Council was advised by the University of Melbourne that he had never been enrolled there. When Vaishnav was told he doubled down, providing a degree transcript, which was also found to be false. His registration was cancelled in March 2024. He had not been working as a veterinarian.

The University of Melbourne is one of seven accredited Australian universities that deliver the standard of education required by the Council to practise as a veterinarian in New Zealand. The Council accepts some overseas veterinary degrees for registration in New Zealand without further examinations being required. The university where Vaishnav trained is not on this list and to practise here he would have been required to do more study or pass the Australasian Veterinary Examination (AVE).

The Vet Council pursued a prosecution under the Veterinarians Act 2005. The Court was satisfied that the three elements of the charge were established – providing a document in order to obtain registration; that the document was not genuine; and that Vaishnav knew the document was not genuine.

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Vet Council deputy registrar Liam Shields said, ”Providing false documentation for the purpose of registering as a vet carries a maximum fine of $10,000.”

“Vaishnav’s conviction and $7,000 fine reflects the serious nature of his offending,” he said

This is the first time the Vet Council has had someone present false documents to obtain registration as a veterinarian in New Zealand. “It is a warning for all professional and regulatory bodies that it is now very easy to obtain fake degrees and academic transcripts,”Liam Shields said. “Maintaining close relationships with tertiary institutes that can verify someone’s credentials is critical for keeping ourselves and our animals safe.”

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