THE Guangming police joined hands with relevant government departments across the city to close nine illegal clinics, which had allegedly deceived patients into receiving unnecessary medical treatment, following a two-month investigation, the Shenzhen Evening News reported yesterday.

A total of 34 people have been arrested so far and 700,000 yuan (US$100,871) involved in these cases has been frozen, according to the police.

On March 18, a pregnant woman identified as Wang Chunlan went to Guangming People’s Hospital and learned that her baby was suspected of having brain tumors. She returned home and planned to have an abortion after discussing it with her husband.

Wang thought that as there were usually many people lined up at public hospitals, she wanted to find a private hospital or clinic. She recalled that a chat box had popped up while she was surfing the Internet.

A doctor surnamed Cao at Huaguangda Clinic asked her if she needed any help. Cao told Wang that it cost only 680 yuan to have an examination and an abortion at the clinic. It was a one-to-one service and there were no extra charges. Therefore, Wang made an appointment to go to the clinic.

When Wang arrived at the clinic for the examination, the so-called “doctor” told her that she had severe cervical erosion and pelvic effusion. If Wang didn’t have these inflammations treated first, there would be no way to perform the surgery.

According to the “doctor,” Wang’s illness had become so serious that she needed an operation immediately and the total cost was about 30,000 yuan. Ultimately, Wang had to pay over 40,000 yuan for the treatment.

“We confiscated a lot of transcripts on the spot. What patients had said and how the online customer service staff handled them were all clearly written,” said a police officer surnamed Hu with the Matian Police Station.

According to Hu, the online customer service staff were trained to follow scripts to scare the patients and swindle them into these illegal clinics. Most of the victims were around 20 years old, with low levels of education.

In March, the police began to receive reports from victims. After two months of investigation, the Guangming police finally unearthed the criminal gang.

According to the police, the head of the gang, surnamed Zhang, had been operating nine illegal clinics in the city, including Huaguangda Clinic. These clinics were run by family members, and the clinics’ annual turnover had reached over 10 million yuan.

Most of the suspects have been arrested, and 40 people including Zhang have been transferred to the prosecutors for prosecution.

(Zhang Yu)