'Dr Horror' made rich on body parts

'Dr Horror' made rich on body parts
MATT WADE, NEW DELHI, AND TOM REILLY
March 2, 2010

AUSTRALIA has been dragged into the investigation of an Indian medic known as ''Dr Horror'' who is accused of running illegal clinics that duped poor labourers into selling their kidneys and then peddled them to wealthy clients.

Legal sources involved in the case say Australians are among hundreds of foreigners who paid Amit Kumar for organ transplants, while authorities in Delhi say he invested some of the millions he allegedly made on properties in NSW and Queensland. Indian investigators believe Kumar also has a bank account in Australia.

The Age has learnt that a money laundering case against Kumar, who was arrested in Nepal in 2008 after a manhunt, is being delayed by the Australian Federal Police who have yet to respond to a 16-month-old request from Indian investigators to look into Kumar's investments.

The charge sheet against Kumar, prepared by India's Central Bureau of Investigation, says he received payment from foreign kidney recipients in foreign bank accounts. He has accounts in Delhi with the international bank ABN Amro.

''There were a lot of patients from Australia,'' a legal source told The Age, although this could not be verified. The charge sheet confirms that he had many foreign clients but provides few details on their nationalities.

The Indian agency investigating the alleged money laundering, the Enforcement Directorate, wants Australian authorities to assist with ''examining various persons'' in relation to Kumar's affairs.

A source said: ''We are sure that he has two properties in Australia and that he may have visited your country at some point in recent years. The homes are in NSW and Queensland. We have written to authorities in Canada, Hong Kong and Australia asking for them to investigate Amit Kumar's assets overseas but we are still waiting for a response from your country and Hong Kong.''

The directorate has identified houses worth about $4.5 million across India in his possession.

The AFP refused to discuss the case, saying: ''It is not appropriate for us to comment in regard to an investigation conducted by foreign law enforcement agencies.''

When police raided a property used as a clinic by Kumar in Gurgaon, a wealthy satellite town of Delhi, in January 2008, they found five ''donors'', three of whom had recently had their kidneys removed and needed to be taken to hospital.

Also detained at a nearby guesthouse were five foreign clients; three were Greek, while two were Americans of Indian descent.

Britons, Turks and Saudis are among the other nationalities confirmed to be paying clients.

Kumar is not a surgeon or a physician trained in mainstream modern medicine. Rather, he has a degree in the traditional Indian Ayurvedic system of medicine and says he learnt how to transplant kidneys ''by associating himself'' with surgeons.

Kumar and his co-accused have been in jail for two years but the final charges against them are still being ''framed''. Court papers allege that middlemen linked to Kumar attracted destitute labourers with promises of jobs that came with board and lodging, but then offered cash for their kidneys when they arrived at properties he controlled.

Many who refused claim they were drugged and had their organ removed without consent, while others have alleged they were threatened at gunpoint.

Eight others people have been charged, including his brother Jevan Kumar and doctors Upender Dubesh, Krishna Kumar Aggawal and Sarj Kumar Govind.

Police say 400 to 500 kidney transplants were performed by the syndicate over a nine-year period. A source said that a former Indian prime minister contacted Kumar for a kidney transplant.

Although selling an organ has been illegal in India since 1994, a black market has emerged, with some of the nation's poorest people offering kidneys to pay off debts.

Those who sold to Kumar were promised about $A1000 to $A2500.

The charge sheet against Kumar says that he charged Indian kidney recipients between about $A18,000 and $A45,000 for their transplants.

Since his arrest it emerged Kumar was detained and charged for illegal transplants in Mumbai in 1994.

At that time he fled to the north Indian city of Jaipur where he changed his name from Santosh Rameshwar Raut to Amit Kumar and continued doing illegal transplants.

Seven policemen have been arrested for accepting bribes from Kumar and it is believed he was able to avoid proper investigation for years with the help of corrupt officers.

He started the lucrative clinic in Gurgaon in 1999.

While there are no laws in Australia banning people from travelling overseas to buy an organ, medics insist the practice is dangerous.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/dr-horror-made-rich-on-body-parts-20100301-pdla.html