A fake doctor in Greece was sentenced to eight life sentences and another fifty years, one of the heaviest sentences delivered by a court, on Thursday for causing the death of seven people.
Nikos Kontostathis, who posed as a distinguished oncologist known as “Dr. Kontos,” was sentenced for seven homicides, six attempted homicides, and criminal distribution of narcotics, especially to underage people.
He will serve at least twenty years and pay a fine of 327,000 euros in addition to his imprisonment.
Kontostathis built a reputation through word of mouth among the faithful in a monastery as a doctor who had healed serious diseases. He was held directly responsible by the court for the deaths.
The quack doctor promised miracle cures
Kontostathis acted as a doctor for a decade, following other personas he had adopted over time for financial gain.
The quack doctor was arrested in 2020 after officials spent more than two months desperately trying to track him down.
Claiming to be a researcher who specialized in pediatric surgery and oncology, Kontostathis is said to have deceived at least forty-five “patients” and their families with fake cures.
The suspect allegedly promised them a miracle cure based on unsafe substances procured over the internet, promoting them as “alternative treatment.”
According to the Hellenic Police, the family of one of the boys paid approximately fifteen thousand euros ($16,900) in order to receive what they had been told was the cure for their son’s cancer.
Another patient also came forward, saying that they had paid up to thirty thousand euros ($33.7 thousand) after being deceived about the man’s identity.
Kontostathis is also being investigated in connection with a fifty million euro ($56.2 million) business scam that took place in 2005. He allegedly posed as a representative of a US government agency and convinced brokers to sell telecom systems to a number of countries.
In 2018, Greek authorities discovered another fake doctor who had served as a general practitioner in a northern Greek hospital for seventeen years.
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