A 33-year-old woman who claimed to be a cosmetic doctor was arrested in an entrapment operation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7.
Operatives caught the woman in the act of attending to a “client” inside a hotel room in
Barangay Lahug, Cebu City on July 19, 2024.
The woman who has no medical license performed body enhancement procedure and used injectables and other undetermined substances.
NBI 7 operatives found syringes used in the procedure, and other pieces of evidence against the bogus doctor.
The entrapment operation was conducted based on a complaint of alias “Ayee” on the damage inflicted to the skin below her eyes that has swollen after it was injected with an undetermined substance. The swelling, she said, has not reduced months after the procedure.
The fake doctor vowed to come back to Cebu City to have the swelling checked, but for another set of fees. This time, alias “Ayee” sought help from NBI 7, according to Atty. Wenceslao Galendez Jr., supervising agent of NBI Central Visayas Regional Office (CEVRO).
Other victims showed up at the NBI 7 office to file charges against the suspect.
They complained against erroneous nose jobs performed on them. They described their noses to be hard as a rock and painful because of the swelling.
The complainants admitted that they met the bogus doctor through social media only, and got enticed at her P7,000 fee for nose lift.
A woman and her mother-in-law availed of the nost enhancement; the woman said she would have wanted to appear “more beautiful” on the day of her wedding in September 2024. As the price is affordable, the mother-in-law of the would-be bride also availed of the service. They said that at the start, they were satisfied with the job; however, the after-effect made the experience stressful.
Another woman who availed of nose lift along with a friend who paid for the service is now troubled at looking for money to have the nose job repaired.
The complainants confronted the suspect in her detention cell at NBI 7 to determine which substances were injected to them as the information is needed by legitimate medical practitioners for proper consultation.
However, the suspect said she only used “hiko thread” for the procedure dubbed “Hiko nose lift” and that there were no other substances used.
It was further learned that "hiko" in Korean means "high nose" or a lifted bridge of the nose. The procedure seeks to achieve a sharper, lifted, and more defined nose.
The suspect also denied she introduced herself as a doctor. She said she is an “aesthetician,” but NBI 7 operatives said that the woman is found to have a number of cases in Iloilo City (Panay Island) and in Butuan City (Province of Agusan del Norte) involving an investment scam.
Charges for illegal practice of medicine and swindling under Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
