A cleaner has been put on trial for allegedly masterminding a con that deceived dozens of patients for thousands of yuan, The Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

The article said privately owned Beijing Aodong Zhongkang Hospital rented a room used to treat patients with traditional Chinese medicine from April to July 2015 to one of its cleaners, Peng Sheguo.

Peng hired people from his home village in central China’s Hunan province to pose as former patients. They reportedly looked for out-of-town patients who were unfamiliar with the medical system and told them the hospital they initially wanted to go to was expensive and busy before referring them to the room in Aodong Zhongkang Hospital. There they were prescribed expensive but ineffective treatment and medicine.

In total the scheme defrauded 39 patients out of 150,000 yuan (almost $23,000).

Peng and nine other defendants, including the legal representative and president of the hospital, appeared in court on Monday.
 
In the article the legal representative of the hospital, Xiao Xingxiang, is quoted as saying he wasn’t aware of the scam until some patients complained to the local health department, which eventually led to the hospital being shut down last July. Peng, on the other hand, said Xiao had given his consent to use “scammers” to bring in more clients.

Han Xiao, a lawyer at Beijing Kangda Law Firm, told Sixth Tone that such hospital scammers have formed well-organized systems. They avoid prosecution by destroying receipts and other evidence on daily basis, he said.

Hospital scammers are not uncommon in China. In July 2015, Beijing police arrested 150 people involved in such practices, and some of these were even connected to Aodong Zhongkang Hospital.

In February of this year, a Beijing court sentenced 15 hospital scammers for deceiving unsuspecting patients by pretending to be medical staff and prescribing exorbitantly priced medicines.

Hospitals renting out rooms or departments to third parties who prioritize for profit is also a common phenomenon in China: The trend received national attention when 21-year-old student Wei Zexi died of cancer in April. The hospital department where he was treated turned out to be run by a private health care company offering contested therapies.

Additional reporting by Fu Danni.

(Header image: Defendants who are accused of deceiving patients at Beijing Aodong Zhongkang Hospital appear in court in Beijing, June 13, 2016. VCG)