Doctored Yale degree, X-rays and operating room photos: How this fake Sydney surgeon wooed women​on February 10, 2025 at 8:30 am

Geczy’s ruse began in April 2023 when he matched with a woman on the dating app Hinge.

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On their first date, Geczy told the woman that he was an orthopaedic registrar at Royal North Shore Hospital. He later sent her a photo of what appeared to be a Yale University doctorate of medicine but was a doctored image of his Yale bachelor of arts degree.

Days after their relationship ended, Geczy matched on Tinder with another woman and told her via text message that he was “[t]raining to be an orthopaedic surgeon”.

Over the six-month relationship, Geczy referred to himself as a surgeon. He talked about operations in technical detail and the privilege he felt being able to perform surgeries.

“Yes, I’m Dr Geczy,” he told the woman, explaining that he was ahead in his training for his age because he had trained overseas.

When she asked if Geczy had an AHPRA number – assigned to every health practitioner registered to practice in Australia – he said he had an “unregistered AHPRA number”, which was “hidden”.

At one point, he sent her an X-ray of a broken hip and another of a broken arm.

Geczy described in technical language how he performed the hip surgery.

When the woman queried if he “did that”, Geczy replied with words to the effect of, “Yeah, sometimes, but I’m still assisting”.

But the woman found both surgery photographs on the internet and questioned if he was “lying about everything”.

Geczy apologised, and used words to the effect of “I have seen and done those kinds of surgeries before, and I wanted to show off”.

Geczy asked the woman what she needed to believe him. She responded “a medical degree”. Geczy sent her a photo of a degree in Latin. She translated the writing, which stated that it was a bachelor of arts.

He sent her a photograph of a North Sydney Local Health District ID card which had been photoshopped to replace the word “student” with “Doctor/Ortho RMO [registered medical officer]”.

In October, Geczy sent texts describing “nick[ing]” a patient’s femoral artery and missing a pager message.

Geczy repeatedly offered to write the woman a prescription for Panadeine Forte. AHPRA also pursued Geczy for giving medical advice to her roommate, which amounted to telling her not to keep spare prescription pain medication and to listen to her doctor.

The charade ended when the woman Geczy had been dating found his student hospital ID badge in his backpack.

The roommate sat with Geczy throughout his court appearance. His lawyer told The Sydney Morning Herald that Geczy did not ask her to come, had no idea that she was attending before seeing her in court, and was not in contact with her.

“The act itself of lying about your profession or career to impress a romantic partner is hardly novel,” Geczy’s lawyer, Nick Hanna, told magistrate Daniel Covington.

Hanna had asked his client – “a tall, handsome man, with a pronounced US accent, an accomplished athlete, studying medicine at one of the most distinguished universities in the country” – why he would need to inflate his credentials to impress women.

“He had ample opportunity to fess up, but he was so embarrassed that he became stuck in his own web,” Hanna said.

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At the time, Geczy was struggling with anxiety and major depressive disorder and ADHD, according to a psychiatric evaluation.

His self-esteem had also taken a hit after he suffered a cycling accident, which put his competitive rowing endeavours on hold, and he had broken up with his long-term girlfriend, Covington heard.

When Geczy found himself in “significant financial debt”, largely due to paying lawyers to respond to AHPRA’s investigation, he was too ashamed to ask his wealthy parents for help and made the “moronic, stupid and pathetic” decision to sell drugs, Hanna told the court.

AHPRA prosecutor Kate Lockery said Geczy’s actions were on the lower end of the spectrum for the charges. Individuals previously convicted of the charges had gained employment at hospitals and treated patients.

Acting AHPRA chief executive Kym Ayscough said: “Whether in a clinical context or a social situation, claiming to be a registered practitioner when you are not poses a serious risk to public safety.”

Hanna said: “Mr Geczy will forever be deeply sorry for what he has done, and he is grateful for the leniency that has been shown to him by the courts.”

Geczy was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order and ordered to pay a $5000 fine and $7500 for AHPRA’s legal costs.

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