‘We do not know who he is’: Charities deny Dr Al Muderis’ ambassador roles

Disgraced surgeon Munjed Al Muderis falsely described relationships with several Australian charities during his failed Federal Court of Australia case, with two international groups denying he holds his claimed ambassador roles.

The Federal Court of Australia on Friday found Al Muderis was dishonest, callous and prioritised fame, money and numbers above the vulnerable patients he “treated with contempt” after a lengthy defamation trial against this masthead and 60 Minutes.

Al Muderis’ sworn affidavit filed in May 2023 stated he had served as an ambassador for both Amnesty International Australia and the Red Cross since 2014, as well as other smaller charities, either currently or in the past.

His barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, in her opening address told the court in September 2023 that Al Muderis “is an ambassador for a number of charitable organisations and humanitarian organisations: the Red Cross, Amnesty International Australia”.

In her 770-page judgment, Justice Wendy Abraham repeated that Al Muderis “is an ambassador for a number of charitable and humanitarian organisations including the Red Cross and Amnesty International Australia”.

But when contacted this week, both Amnesty International and the Red Cross denied he was an ambassador, while other smaller charities also said their relationships with Al Muderis did not exist or were limited and historic in nature.

An Amnesty International spokesperson said Al Muderis has never been an ambassador and had no formal affiliation with the organisation, other than delivering a guest speech in 2014 and featuring in a now-deleted blog post in 2018.

“Al Muderis … has never been an ambassador of Amnesty International,” a spokesperson said. “Reports that patients were positively influenced by Al Muderis’ claimed association with Amnesty International are concerning.”

An Australian Red Cross spokesperson said its engagements with Al Muderis were “very limited in nature” and there had been no formal affiliation with him since 2019.

In another section of his affidavit, Al Muderis said he was a patron of the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association of NSW “since 2019”.

The association’s executive director, Yvonne Munce, said she had worked for the organisation for more than five years and was surprised to hear Al Muderis was using the group’s name.

“I have not heard of nor met Dr Al Muderis, and neither have any of our current management team including our board,” she said.

“Essentially, we have nothing at all to do with him and [he] has never done anything in his capacity as apparent patron from our perspective and certainly has had nothing at all to do with us for some time. We are unsure why he is claiming to be our patron currently.”

Munce believed Al Muderis may have been introduced to the organisation by a staff member but denied he was ever a patron. “There is no relationship,” she said.

“We do not know who he is … As far as we know, he has had no interaction with any staff or clients. We do not want Dr Al Muderis claiming he is connected with us.”

Al Muderis’ affidavit stated he had been a patron of refugee charity Sanctuary Australia Foundation (SAF) since 2018.

The SAF said the small Coffs Harbour organisation had one email and a phone call with Al Muderis around 2016.

“Apart from that, we do not know him. We were shocked to hear of his poor work ethic, and do not want Sanctuary’s vital work for refugees to be associated with this,” the spokesperson said. “Sanctuary’s website Patrons page has not been updated for a long time, but now his name has been removed.”

Settlement Services International, a charity for which Al Muderis claimed to be an ambassador since December 2015, said he “does not currently have an active ambassadorial role with SSI” and described his involvement with the organisation as “limited”.

“We understand the seriousness of the findings and the public interest in the outcome,” a spokesperson for SSI said, adding it was reviewing the judgment.

“Munjed Al Muderis has previously been involved with SSI in a voluntary ambassadorial capacity in around 2015. His personal journey from refugee to medical professional has been one of many stories shared to highlight the resilience and contributions of people from refugee backgrounds.”

Saxton Speakers, an agency that promoted Al Muderis for lucrative speaking engagements, confirmed on Tuesday it no longer represented him.

In a now-deleted profile on Saxton’s website, that was available on Monday, the agency promoted Al Muderis’ humanitarian work in particular his “affiliations” with Amnesty International and that he “represents” the Red Cross.

In his affidavit, Al Muderis claimed he was paid $8000 for 15-minute speeches, and was once paid $20,000 by the Catholic Church for a 15-minute speech. He said he donated speaking fees to charity in the past.

Asked to confirm if the fees were passed onto charity, Saxton Speakers chief executive Anne Jamieson declined to comment but said: “We have no first-hand knowledge of the matters of the subject of the court proceedings and learnt of the matters from the press.”

The Asylum Seekers Centre in NSW confirmed Al Muderis was a patron from 2018 to 2023, as stated in his affidavit, “due to his experience as a refugee”.

“During his time as a patron, he spoke at one event for the organisation and visited the centre once. He had no other involvement with the Asylum Seekers Centre,” a spokesperson said.

In a statement, lawyers for Al Muderis denied any suggestion that he “deliberately misrepresented affiliations”.

“Where organisations have changed policies or marketing since his involvement, those updates do not make past statements inaccurate,” he said.

Al Muderis’ statement said he had been cleared in all investigations by healthcare regulators and was not aware of any active complaints.

Justice Wendy Abraham found on Friday that Al Muderis had mistreated vulnerable patients in Australia and prioritised money, fame and reputation over patient safety, and that he lied to journalists, patients and the court.

The defamation action was brought by Al Muderis after a joint investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes revealed Al Muderis left patients with maggots in their legs, ignored their pleas for help, minimised risks of invasive surgeries and abandoned vulnerable patients.

After a months-long trial, Abraham found the stories were true and in the public interest. Al Muderis posted on social media that he would appeal.

In damning credit findings throughout the 770-page judgment, Abraham found he gave “dishonest” and “wilfully false” evidence during cross-examination.

Charlotte Grieve’s book Duty To Warn will be available in February. Pre-order here.

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