Man who faked physiotherapy licence recently worked at Halifax clinic using alias

A man with a lengthy history of faking his physiotherapy credentials, including during his time in the Canadian Forces, was until recently working under an assumed name as a manager in Atlantic Canada's largest hospital system, CBC News has learned.

Sources say Kelvin Cheung, who was convicted this week in Winnipeg of pretending to be a licensed physiotherapist,washired last fall as the manager of assistive technology at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation and Arthritis Centre in Halifax.

The centre describes itself as "providing specialized adult rehabilitation and complex continuing care."

The 32-year-old man, whom co-workers knew as Karl, stopped working at the centre this spring several months before the College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba tipped off its counterparts in Nova Scotia that he was reportedly working in the province under an alias.

'Concerning' case

Joan Ross, registrar of the Nova Scotia College of Physiotherapists, said she was told Cheung's work at the centre did not involve physiotherapy. She said in her 20 years as registrar, she's never encountered a case like this.

She said the situation is "concerning enough that nationally we're keeping tabs on him."

The Nova Scotia Health Authority declined to comment on Cheungexcept to say that heis no longer an employee.

Cheungdid notrespondto an interview request from CBC News.

Regulator watching Cheung for some time

Cheunghas been on the radar ofthe Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators (CAPR),the umbrella organization that represents physiotherapy regulators across the country, for several years.

Though hegraduated from the physiotherapy program at the University of Manitoba, he failed his clinical exam in June 2012 and has never been licensed to practise. He has repeatedly fabricated regulatory credentials in order to secure employment.

Regulators in Manitoba and Ontario issued public notificationsthat Kelvin Kar HangCheungwas not allowed to identify himself as aphysiotherapistand was not eligible to practise.

The Ontario notice, dated March 2014, saidCheunghad been "holding himself out as a physiotherapist"in Dryden, Ont.,and possibly other locations.

Forging documents to land job

On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty in Winnipeg provincial court tocharges of forgeryand false representation as a physiotherapist betweenJune andJuly 2015 under Manitoba's Physiotherapists Act.

The charges were laid after he was fired as a family patient-care manager at a Winnipeghospital, wherehe used forged documents to get the job.

Cheung was sentenced to two years of probation and fined$6,500. He was also ordered not to representhimself as a licensed professional unless he has a valid licence and professional designation.

The CAPRsaid in a statement all provincial regulators were made aware ofCheungwhen he was under investigation by the College of Physiotherapists of Manitoba.

Court martial for fake certificate

It's not the first time Cheung's lies have landed him in legal hot water.

In 2010, following his graduation from university,Cheung was an army lieutenant at Canadian Forces Base Shiloin Manitoba where he wasposted to a medical centre.

According to a court martial ruling, Cheung submitted a fake physiotherapy competency exam certificateand a falsified score report to his chain of command in October 2012.

He was caught, court-martialed and pleaded guilty to four charges under the National Defence Act in October 2014for uttering a forged document.

According to the sentencing decision, Cheung had been seeing patients on his own as a member of the physiotherapy team, even though he didn't have the professional qualifications to practise without mentorship.

Violated 'integrity and honesty'

The military judge said Cheung "violated one of the most fundamental obligations of a commissioned officer in the Canadian Forces, that of integrity and honesty" and"chose to deceive [the military], your professional governing body, and your patients."

He was handeda $6,000 finebuthis guilty plea saved him from acustodial sentence.

The Department of National Defenceconfirmed to CBC News that Cheung was released from the military but would not give the reason.

The CAPR issued another alert last week notifyingall physiotherapy regulators across the country that Cheung "was reportedly working under a different name in Nova Scotia" and to make them aware of his "history and current status."

It has also alerted regulators in the United Statesto be on watch.