South Korean customs officials have vowed to crack down on plastic surgery clinics that cater to foreign tourists after unearthing a $102 million crypto-powered money laundering network.
Investigators say criminals in Seoul used unnamed cryptocurrencies to launder customer payments for cosmetic surgery procedures made using the Chinese e-pay platforms Alipay and WeChat Pay.
“We plan to carry out stricter on-site inspections at clinics,” a Korea Customs Service official told South Korean newspaper Joongang Ilbo. “We must prevent instances of illegal currency exchange in the overseas medical tourism sector.”
The South Korean plastic surgery industry is worth around $11 billion, with the so-called “medical tourism” sector set to grow to $3.1 billion by 2033. The flow of plastic surgery clients from China is rising at an average rate of 100% per year.
However, crypto-powered money laundering is rising at a similarly exponential rate in the country, with some unscrupulous operators looking to cash in on the cosmetic surgery boom.
Seoul Customs say the network’s mastermind was the Chinese-Korean head of consultations at a “large” plastic surgery clinic.
This individual, unnamed for legal reasons, allegedly funneled customers’ WeChat Pay and Alipay payments into dedicated bank accounts.
Then, working with a Chinese national, they withdrew these funds and used the money to buy cryptocurrencies in multiple overseas jurisdictions.
They transferred these coins to wallets on South Korean crypto exchanges, officials said. Next, they reportedly sold these coins for South Korean won, and withdrew the funds in cash at ATMs after sending them through numerous South Korean bank accounts.
In 2024, the duo allegedly decided to broaden the scope of their operation, branching out from the plastic surgery industry to other sectors popular among Chinese tourists.
They reportedly convinced the South Korean owner of a mobile phone store to help them launder payments made in small-scale export trade deals, as well as duty-free purchases and tuition fees for language courses.
Customs officials said all three individuals have been charged, with their cases handed over to prosecutors.
The connection between plastic surgery and crypto is growing. In 2024, a paper in an industry journal advised, “Plastic surgeons should consider investing in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and accepting cryptocurrency as payment for services.”
“Plastic surgeons will likely be at the forefront of assimilating [Bitcoin] into healthcare,” the authors said.
