Doctors caught for leasing licenses

Unlicensed nurses perform dozens of plastic surgeries

By Park Si-soo

Staff reporter

Eight licensed plastic surgeons were booked for "leasing" their licenses in exchange for kickbacks to three nurses, who had impersonated doctors and sought to run their own hospital, police said Monday.

Arrest warrants were sought for the three nurses, who were highly-skilled and could perform plastic surgery as well as real surgeons, police said. Officers also placed another doctor, who has yet to be found, on a wanted list for playing a broker's role.

The doctors in question were in financial trouble so they relied on the illegal scheme as a means to ease their financial woes, investigators said.

According to Seoul Metropolitan Police Station, one of the three nurses, with the surname Kim, opened a hospital using a doctor's license in Bucheon, a city on the outskirts of Seoul, between April and October last year.

Kim performed at least 60 plastic surgeries during the period, racking up more than 80 million won ($65,400) in profit, it said.

Another nurse ran four hospitals from February 2008 to last March in Gyeonggi Province, racking up 2 billion won in illegal profit.

The three contacted the doctors through a recruiting website and "borrowed" the licenses in exchange for four to seven million won paid in kickbacks on a monthly basis, police said.

Their illegal operation was detected in April 2008, but they soon resumed the business with licenses from other doctors.

Police are widening their investigation based on intelligence that this is only a small fraction of similar practices in this flourishing industry. They also plan to take measures to prevent the recurrence of similar cases.