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Tokyo court gives celebrity doctor suspended sentence for fraud

Eriko Wakisaka
Eriko Wakisaka

TOKYO (TR) – The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday handed down a suspended prison term to a 37-year-old celebrity doctor for her participation in a large health insurance fraud, reports Fuji News Network (July 12).

The court handed Eriko Wakisaka, a former director of a clinic in Meguro Ward, a three-year prison term, suspended for four years, for fabricating patient records to fraudulently collect 1.55 million yen in health insurance payments over a two-year period ending in 2014.

“By taking advantage of your position as a doctor you played a central role in fabricating medical records,” the presiding judge said.

Wakisaka carried out the ruse as a part of a large fraud perpetrated in the Kanto area. Dental offices in Chiba Prefecture and a bone-setting clinic in Tokyo’s Suginami Ward are among those that also allegedly faked patient records.

Wakisaka often appears on television variety programs to speak about health-related topics. During those appearances, the doctor has garnered a reputation for lavish spending, once boasting of having no savings in spite of an annual salary of 50 million yen and regularly running up bills of nine million yen during a night out.