A man who allegedly posed as a top US cosmetic surgeon and operated on women from his kitchen in Al Barsha has been arrested by Dubai police, it was reported on Monday.
Emarat Al Youm reported that the man was caught impersonating Washington-based Dr Steven Hopping who, the paper said, had performed surgery on Hollywood celebrities and was one of the most respected surgeons in the US.
The paper said police set a trap for the alleged fraudster after being tipped off by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery in Dubai Healthcare City.
Dr Jehan Elah told the paper that Hopping visited Dubai every few months to perform surgeries.
But it had become aware of fake business cards being offered to patients with Hopping’s name and the logo of the hospital on it, charging just AED500 for a facelift.
Hospital chiefs alerted the health authority who in turn tipped off police officers and a trap was set to catch him meeting women who were posing as potential patients.
The paper said the police investigation showed that some of the surgeries performed caused facial deformities to patients. The report said some victims were so deformed that they lost their jobs after being unable to show their faces at work.
It added that the surgeries were allegedly carried out in the kitchen of a villa in Al Barsha.
Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, director general of Inquiries and Criminal Investigation Department of Dubai Police, told the paper that the case of impersonating a doctor had been referred to prosecutors for further investigation.
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