Man who posed as gynaecologist and gave women internal ultrasounds charged.

A Melbourne man, who allegedly posed as a gynaecologist and gave women internal ultrasounds has faced court.

It is alleged that he pretended to be an IVF specialist, placed his hands at times inside the vaginas of women, and sent multiple women the same ultrasound image of a fetus telling the women they were pregnant – when they were not.

Raffaele Lorenzo Di Paolo, 59, of Kew, who denies the claims saying he operated only as a homeopath, is accused of falsely passing himself off as a properly registered and qualified doctor, gynaecologist and IVF specialist.

He is charged with 88 offences including multiple counts of rape, sexual penetration, and fraud.

The charges relate to the mainly adult women Di Paolo treated at his Brighton and St Kilda Rd clinics in Melbourne for infertility.

He is accused of giving women dangerous fertility drugs that had potentially fatal complications and brushing off their questions when asked what they were taking.

“Don’t you worry about that, princess,” Raffaele Di Paolo allegedly told a patient reports The Age.

AAP reports that between 2006 to 2015, Di Paolo who had invoices with the letters ‘MD’ on them and corresponded with others doctors in the field, gave women internal ultrasounds and collected body samples like blood, sperm and tissue.

Police say no records could be found of testing ever having been done for the blood, sperm and other bodily samples he collected.

According to court documents tendered on the first day of his committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court Di Paolo told one complainant she was pregnant – when she was not and never had been  – sending her an ultrasound image via instant messaging appearing to show a fetus in her uterus.

A police analysis of Di Paolo’s phone showed he had sent the same ultrasound image to multiple women.

The 57-year-old is alleged to have conned patients out of more than $342,000 by offering fertility treatment under the guise of being a medical practitioner.

Some desperate women, who had tried all other methods to have a much longed for baby paid up to $40,000 for the treatments he administered.

AAP reports that Di Paolo told another patient she had a tilted pelvis and over a course of appointments did at least 25 internal ultrasounds on her.

He is also accused of twice using his ungloved hands to touch a female patient's breasts after discussions about breast cancer.

He is also accused of twice using his ungloved hands to touch a female patient's breasts after discussions about breast cancer. Via IStock.

Court documents show that Di Paolo injected at least one woman in the stomach with sperm, reports The Herald Sun and he extracted sperm from the husband of another patient via syringe to the testicles – all without anaesthetic.

Prosecutors in the case claim that one woman was later diagnosed and hospitalised with ovarian hyper-stimulation said to be the result of Di Paolo's treatments.

Another patient was allegedly given injections that led her to record positive pregnancy tests, but upon seeing another doctor she was told the injections given to her by Di Paolo had caused her a severe and potentially fatal condition.

The court heard that according to police Di Paolo had no tertiary qualifications from Monash University or La Sapienze University in Rome as claimed.

He started a science degree in 1975 at Monash but did not complete it.

Some desperate women, who had tried all other methods to have a much longed for baby paid up to $40,000 for the treatments he administered. Via IStock.

Di Paolo denied the claims saying he operated only as a homeopath in Australia and never pretended to be a registered doctor.

A prosecution summary says “Throughout the course of his treatment ... Di Paolo passed himself off as either being, or having been, a properly registered and or qualified medical doctor, gynaecologist and or an IVF specialist.”

As well as the criminal charges The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) are pursuing eight charges against Di Paolo for allegedly falsely calling himself a gynaecologist and obstetrician.

The board's chair, Dr Joanna Flynn, said: "Patients have a right to expect that someone who is purporting to be a gynaecologist or obstetrician with expertise in IVF has the necessary academic and professional qualifications to support that claim".

He said he never performed medical procedures or inserted ultrasound probes.

33 witnesses will be called during his trial. He returns to court next week.