Written by Staff Writer by Jennifer Lewington, CNN
Most healthy travelers would recognize this — the “Hand Offed” sign on a pharmacy door. But three people in Korea did not and were arrested for fraud and interfering with medical professionals’ duties.
Fraudulent asylum seekers posed as medical practitioners and managed to get fake permits for their fake severed arms.
The first three arrests happened last December in Oncheon county in South Korea’s southeastern Gyeonggi Province. The fourth took place this month in the city of Suwon, located in the south, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
In one case, a man posed as a doctor, signed up for the identity certificate and used the fake body to obtain the fake fake arm.
According to the ministry, it was his fourth attempt and he already had one fake arm confiscated for trying it on last year. This time he also used a fake South Korean national ID card to get into the hospital and tried to pass himself off as a medical practitioner.
CNN checks with the authorities at Suwon University Hospital to confirm the authenticity of the incident. The hospital said it’s set to close for an indefinite period as the focus of the police investigation moves to forensic analysis of the medical certificates.
“The hands have been separated into separate wounds so that body parts will not be in contact with each other,” said Dr. Kwon Deok-mi, a spokeswoman for the hospital.