An ordinary Australian man who posed as a paramedic and charged major companies for first aid training despite having no qualifications has been deemed a threat to public safety.
Andreas Pantziaros was handed a lifetime ban by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission on Tuesday for offering false health services through his private company Medic Corp Ambulance.
He allegedly deceived major businesses including St Basil’s, a large aged care company with five care homes and 650 staff across Sydney, and Blue Steel, the construction company behind the Crown Casino in Barangaroo on the city’s harbour.
Last year, Pantziaros was convicted and fined $1,000 for impersonating an emergency services worker and also for falsely registering his vehicle as an ambulance, which reduced his fee from $590 to just $68.
“The Commission found that Mr Pantziaros was wearing a formal uniform that closely resembled the New South Wales ambulance paramedic uniform, which could easily lead the public to believe that he was a New South Wales paramedic,” the commission said. commission.
Andreas Pantziaros (pictured) was handed a lifetime ban by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission on Tuesday for offering false health services through his private company Medic Corp Ambulance.
“While wearing this uniform, Mr Pantziaros was driving a vehicle that had been modified to resemble a NSW ambulance vehicle, which included the words ‘Ambulance’, ‘000 Emergency’ and a ‘Medic Corp’ logo almost identical to the logo of NSW Ambulance”. the commission found
“While wearing this uniform, Mr Pantziaros was driving a vehicle that had been modified to resemble a NSW ambulance vehicle, which included the words ‘Ambulance’, ‘000 Emergency’ and a ‘Medic Corp’ logo almost identical to the logo from NSW Ambulance.
“Mr Pantziaros does not possess the necessary qualifications to perform the role of paramedic.”
The banning sentence added that he was not qualified to teach first aid.
This did not prevent it from charging private companies and non-profit organizations for training sessions.
In 2021, she shared a selfie with a group of women holding first aid dummies.
“Providing first aid and CPR training to Polish school teachers,” he captioned the post.
Pantziaros allegedly deceived large companies including St Basil’s, a large aged care company with five care homes and 650 employees across Sydney, and Blue Steel, the construction company behind the Crown Casino at Barangaroo on the city’s harbor (in the photo).
Pictured: Pantziaros’ fake ambulance he used as part of his Medic Corp business.
Medic Corp Ambulance’s website has been taken down, but its social media profile remains active.
It seems that Pantziaros has also carried out his fake business abroad.
His social media profile suggests that he now lives in Cyprus, where he runs an “occupational health and safety services” company called “A.Pantziaros Consultants Ltd”.
A post from December 2022 appears to show him leading a training day for a volunteer rescue group in Cyprus.
“A very interesting presentation by our friend and trainer Andreas Pantziaros on the use of medicinal oxygen,” the caption reads.
Pantziaros appears to have also plied his bogus business abroad (pictured: a post from December 2022 appears to show him leading a training day for a volunteer rescue group in Cyprus).
“This was followed by practical training in which our volunteers, with the help of our trainers, put theory into practice.”
The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission concluded that it “poses a risk to public health and safety”.
“Mr. Andreas Pantziaros is permanently prohibited from providing any health services, whether in paid employment or voluntarily, including through any business or enterprise, to any member of the public,” it ruled.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Pantziaros for comment.