An illegal immigrant from Mexico living in Gilberts appeared Friday in Kane County court after being charged with practicing medicine without a license, police said.
Authorities believe Manuel E. Caravantes, 43, of the 300 block of Alpine Drive, for years has posed as a doctor, treating primarily Hispanics in Kane County. His bail was set at $100,000, and he was ordered to appear in court Feb. 27.
Gilberts police along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials executed a search warrant Thursday at Caravantes’ home, where his basement served as a doctor’s office, police said. Another room housed vitamin and herbal supplements as well as several kinds of antibiotics, according to police.
“We took quite a lot out of there,” said Gilberts Police Chief Mike Joswick. “This was stuff that he would sell to his patients.”
Police seized lab coats and business cards that had the initials MD following Caravantes’ name. “From what I gather, there’s nothing to show that he had any training in that field, even in Mexico,” Joswick said.
A patient tipped off police in December that Caravantes was operating a doctor’s office from his home. Though Caravantes has lived in Gilberts for more than a year, police believe he may have been posing as a doctor for at least three to five years in other nearby towns, including Carpentersville.
Police said they did not know whether any patients were harmed by Caravantes.
