Police are investigating the director of a hospital in Seoul’s Gangnam district and about 360 patients on suspicion of insurance fraud connected to cosmetic-treatment aftercare. The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency says the case involves claims allegedly made after patients received lymphatic circulation treatment following liposuction procedures.
According to investigators, medical documents described conditions such as lower-back pain or lumbar sprain, allowing patients to seek reimbursement for treatment that police believe was actually part of cosmetic post-operative care. Individual payouts reportedly ranged from roughly KRW 200,000 to KRW 2 million, with the total amount received by patients estimated at about KRW 180 million. Police are examining whether the hospital deliberately structured the documentation to make non-covered treatment appear eligible for insurance.
Patients are also being investigated because authorities believe at least some may have understood that the diagnoses used for the claims did not reflect the real purpose of the treatment. The investigation is not yet a finding of guilt, and police still need to establish what the hospital and individual patients knew. Hospital officials are expected to be questioned as investigators reconstruct how the claims were prepared and submitted.