The Italian citizen who posed as a renowned plastic surgeon and performed surgeries on patients at several private clinics in Bucharest despite having no medical training was caught on Wednesday, February 6, while trying to leave Romania by train.

The Border Police announced that the officers at the Curtici border crossing point, in western Romania, spotted the Italian in an InterRegio train traveling to Budapest. He presented an Italian passport to the border police officers.

“While performing the specific checks, the policemen found that an alert was issued on the person's name, […] as the person is being investigated in a case of fraud,” the Romanian Border Police said, adding that the Italian would be handed over to the Romanian Police, which is to take the necessary legal measures.

The Italian national, by his real name Matteo Politi, posed as a plastic surgeon in Romania under the false name of Matthew Mode and performed several operations on patients before being exposed. Local tabloid Libertatea first published the investigation, reporting that the Italian was convicted for a similar felony in his home country.

The local media said Politi only graduated eight classes and, despite having no medical training, he managed to get a medical rubber stamp with the help of an employee from the Public Health Direction (DSP), which he later used to convince clinics that he is a real doctor. The Romanian health minister Sorina Pintea said the impostor obtained the stamp from DSP because one of the employees there “felt sorry for him,” local Digi24 reported.

The Italian said at local TV station Antena 1 that he is not a fake doctor, and that he has the right to practice in Romania because his diplomas were recognized here. He said a lawyer helped him obtain the right to practice in Romania, without giving the lawyer's name.

Romanian doctor who exposed Italian impostor: He was brilliant in medical conversation

newsroom@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Facebook / Dr. Matthew Mode)