Head doctor of well-known clinic faces fraud charges
Customers left unable to reclaim their membership fees after a well-known clinic in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, abruptly shut down have filed a complaint with police. The clinic operated primarily as a dermatology practice, and police have opened an investigation into its head doctor, who has since filed for court rehabilitation.
Seoul's Gangseo Police Station has booked the clinic's head doctor, identified only as A, on fraud charges and is conducting an investigation. More than 20 victims filed a group complaint with the station on Aug. 13, and police have since questioned the complainants about the circumstances of their losses.
Members who say they were harmed claim the clinic suddenly ceased operations around the end of July without refunding their remaining membership balances. The number of victims is reportedly still growing, as notices about the closure and refund procedures reached only some members, leaving others unaware they had been affected.
A group chat set up by affected members currently has about 90 participants. Individual losses range from hundreds of thousands of won to several million won, and the total amount yet to be refunded is estimated at tens of millions of won.
One member, also identified as A, told The Herald Business that the clinic had held a "thank-you event" in July offering steeper discounts than usual. "Right up until the end of July, there was no separate notice of closure given to customers — just a small sign posted at the front desk," the member said.
Some members also claimed that even as the clinic was on the verge of closing, staff continued booking August appointments for customers who visited in person, giving the impression that normal operations would continue.
According to those who filed the complaint, the clinic responded to refund requests after the closure by saying it had no money or simply could not issue refunds, or ignored contact attempts altogether. Once the group criminal complaint was filed, some smaller-sum victims began receiving refunds — a development that victims say was a deliberate attempt to reduce the apparent scale of the damage.
Doctor A filed for court rehabilitation with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court around the end of August. The court lists 77 registered creditors under A's name. The clinic had previously said it would do its best to ensure repayment.
Brand headquarters says Doctor A terminated contract unilaterally
The clinic had originally operated as a franchise branch under a medical brand agreement, but changed to an unaffiliated name around February this year. The brand, identified as Clinic B, operates 25 branches nationwide, and its head doctor has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Clinic B announced through its official social media accounts in late February that the Gangseo-gu branch's brand licensing agreement had ended as of Feb. 13, and that the location would operate as a separate, unaffiliated medical institution with no connection to the main clinic or other branches.
Some members, however, are holding the headquarters partly responsible, pointing out that membership payments continued to be transferred into an account bearing the brand's name even after that announcement.
Clinic B rebuffed that claim, saying its contracts require three months' advance notice from either party before termination, with penalties and exit terms to be negotiated. "Doctor A unilaterally changed the website and business name without notifying headquarters, and we only found out after we noticed the website had been changed," the brand said.
On the question of why the brand name lingered after the contract ended, Clinic B said it was Doctor A's responsibility to change the signage and account names, and that A had simply failed to do so.
The brand also said that as a franchise headquarters, it plays no structural role in individual clinics' medical services or membership sales. It provides brand licensing, management support and education in exchange for a monthly fee, and is not involved in payment processing or membership revenue.
Doctor A and Clinic B's headquarters are now engaged in mutual litigation over who bears responsibility.
newday@heraldcorp.com
