US plastic surgeon's ex-employee steals patient records

A former employee of a luxurious plastic surgery clinic on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, allegedly stole the records of 15,000 patients, including some celebrities.

A spokesperson for doctor Zain Kadri on Thursday said that the "disgruntled" employee, who was fired for stealing from the clinic, used to be his driver and translator, Xinhua news agency reported.

He stole not only financial and contact information, including credit and debit card information, but also photos of patients before and during surgery and their medical records.

Los Angeles' local TV channel KTLA 5 reported that some of the patients were celebrities and could be badly affected if those photos got out, adding that the doctor's office had alerted the patients to notify banks to monitor their accounts.

The associate of Kadri's office said that the fraud was discovered during an internal audit.

They had already filed a report to the police and notified Kadri's two other offices in Palmdale and Huntington Beach, since the same fraud could probably happen in those two offices too, he said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff said that a police report was filed, but so far no arrest has been made and no charges have been filed.

--IANS

ksk/vt