‘Do I need to?’: Woman charged over alleged Covid exemption racket ordered to mask up

A woman accused of posing as a medical doctor to issue bogus Covid exemption certificates complained about having to mask up before facing court for the first time.

Maria Carmela Pau, also known as Maria Power, was silent as she arrived at Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday, two weeks after she was sensationally arrested and charged by detectives.

Ms Pau, a Gold Coast life coach who runs an addiction recovery charity, is alleged to have issued hundreds of fake exemption certificates to people across the country while pretending to be a medical doctor.

Upon arriving at court, an unmasked Ms Pau, 45, was ordered to put on a face mask before entering the building.

She asked security “do I need to?”, before producing a black mask from her bag.

Police allege the certificates, which were sold for up to $150 each, falsely claimed a person was exempt from undergoing Covid testing, receiving a vaccine and wearing a mask.

Her lawyer Ali Rana asked for a three-week adjournment for case conferencing with police.

Ms Pau will return to court on November 18.

She did not speak to media while leaving court in the company of her lawyer and a Salvation Army representative offering his support.

She is the first person in Queensland to be charged under Health Practitioner Regulation National Law with five counts of taking a title indicating a person is a health practitioner.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of $60,000 or three years’ jail, or both, if convicted.

Police allege in court documents Ms Pau “knowingly used a title” of a health practitioner on multiple dates in August.

In the same documents, Ms Pau’s occupation is listed as an “executive director”.

Ms Pau was charged on October 14 after police executed a search warrant at a Labrador home.

Despite calling herself “Dr M Power” on her social media profiles, police have said Ms Pau does not hold a medical doctorate and is not registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) or Medicare.

Ms Pau’s research doctorate relates to a thesis on addiction and “collaborative peer recovery coaching”.

Following her arrest, Detective Acting Inspector Damien Powell described Ms Pau as being “anti-Covid”.

“(She) does not believe people should be forced into vaccination. She doesn’t believe she’s doing anything wrong,” Inspector Powell told reporters.

Ms Pau is listed as the founder of Coaching With Substance, which is registered as a public benevolent institution.

The charity aims to help people overcome addiction and improve their life skills and self-worth “using spiritual values of love, faith, hope, forgiveness and compassion”.