Plastic Surgery as Athlete's Foot Treatment?… Insurance Fraud Ring Busted, One Arrested

Busan Police Arrest 33 Including Hospital Staff, Brokers, and Insurance Fraud Patients

A plastic surgeon who issued false medical receipts for athlete's foot laser treatment as cosmetic procedures and patients who received insurance money using false receipts were collectively caught by the police.

Hospital director Mr. A was investigated for obtaining unfair profits by prescribing low-cost fake drugs instead of expensive facial skin treatments and filler procedures.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's Violent Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 11th that they have booked 33 people, including 11 hospital staff, 5 patient referral brokers, and 17 insurance fraud patients, on charges of violating the Special Act on Insurance Fraud Prevention and fraud, and have arrested one woman in her 30s.

According to the police, Mr. A, who operates a plastic surgery clinic in Haeundae-gu, Busan, used insurance planners as patient referral brokers and paid them gift certificates equivalent to 5-10% of the total medical fees when patients were brought in.

Subsequently, from January to September 2021, Mr. A issued false payment receipts indicating that patients recruited during this period had received athlete's foot laser treatment after undergoing cosmetic procedures.

Patients who received the receipts submitted false medical records claiming they had received athlete's foot laser treatment after cosmetic surgery to claim insurance money. This was because athlete's foot laser treatment, unlike cosmetic surgery, is covered by medical insurance.

Additionally, Mr. A deceived general patients who had booked expensive procedures by prescribing low-cost drugs. It is known that Mr. A gained unfair profits worth approximately 240 million KRW through insurance fraud and fake drug prescriptions.

A police official stated, "In addition to fake drug administration and insurance fraud uncovered during the search and seizure, we will reveal patient referral details and prevent indiscriminate manual therapy to protect the insurance premiums of honest citizens."

Patient Ms. B, who was arrested, is suspected of fraudulently obtaining about 70 million KRW in insurance money from insurance companies by submitting hospital diagnosis certificates downloaded from the internet and falsified over 160 times.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.