CARIBOU — A Presque Isle doctor has sued the controversial Dr. James Benjamin in an attempt to recover $27,000 he claims Benjamin owes him.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Aroostook County Superior Court in Caribou, also names Benjamin’s mother, Rebekah Benjamin, as a defendant.

Dr. Farid C. Bina claims in the suit that he issued three checks to Benjamin and three to his mother from October 1993 through March 1994. Three checks were for $4,000 and three were for $5,000, according to the complaint.

Benjamin was suspended from The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle in November 1993 after hospital officials claimed he abandoned his patients for five days.

Benjamin sued TAMC and several administrators, doctors and nurses in December 1993, claiming that he was libeled and defamed during the process. He also claimed that his rights were violated when he was banned from the hospital during the suspension.

By Jan. 1, 1994, he was no longer a member of the TAMC medical staff, although it remains unclear whether he quit or was fired. He has since applied for hospital privileges at Cary Medical Center in neighboring Caribou. Both his request to Cary and his lawsuit against TAMC are still pending.

Bina’s complaint said that the Benjamins came to him “claiming to be impoverished and in need of financial assistance.”

No attempt has been made to repay the loans, Bina’s complaint said.

Bina, through his attorney, Richard L. Currier of Presque Isle, also asked that Benjamin’s property be attached to ensure that the property would be available to satisfy the claim, if the court rules in Bina’s favor.

The Benjamins have not filed a response to the complaint.