Famous Romanian urology surgeon Mihai Lucan, who treated former president Ion Iliescu and former prime minister Emil Boc, was held in an embezzlement case on Thursday, December 21.

The Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) is investigating famous Romanian surgeon Mihai Lucan, alongside his son, Valerian Ciprian Lucan, also a surgeon, and Dan Emil Fofiu-Sânpetreanu and Sanda Rodica Baciu, two managers of the Clinic Institute of Urology and Renal Transplant (ICUTR) in Cluj-Napoca. All four were detained on Thursday for 24 hours for further questioning, according to Stirileprotv.ro.

The group are suspected of having brought damages of over RON 5 million (EUR 1.1 million) to the Clinic Institute of Urology and Renal Transplant (ICUTR) in Cluj-Napoca, in western Romania, by using the resources of the state-owned institute for the benefit of a private medical facility owned by Lucan's family.

The prosecutors searched Lucan's home on Wednesday and allegedly found some EUR 600,000 in cash, expensive jewelry and hunting rifles, according to Adevarul.ro.

Urology surgeon Mihai Lucan is known in Romania for having treated patients such as former president Ion Iliescu, Cluj-Napoca mayor Emil Boc, or popular actor Alexandru Arsinel. The surgeries he performed used to make the local headlines as firsts in several areas. He is a member of the Romanian Academy of Scientists (ASOR), a founder of the Romanian Transplant Society, and was an advisor to Emil Boc when he was a prime minister. He was a also professor at the Iuliu Hațieganu Medical School in Cluj-Napoca, where his son now teaches.

The patients coming for consultations at ICUTR, which Lucan headed between 2000 and 2007, were sent to have various interventions performed at his private clinic, Lukmed. The patients were admitted at ICUTR but were sent at Lukmed to undergo surgery on grounds that the state-owned facility did not have the right equipment. Afterwards, the patients returned to ICUTR for post-op care.

The DIICOT prosecutors allege that Lucan's clinic used medical staff, property and financial resources from the ICUTR’s lab to perform analyses, without paying for the services. At the same time, Lukmed was using cryotherapy equipment of the ICUTR, which it took hold of in 2007, without any documents. It used the equipment exclusively between 2007 and 2013. The private clinic also paid undervalued fees for the pre- and post-op care at ICUTR for the patients it operated.

At least 150 patients were treated this way, according to the DIICOT prosecutors. They were charged in between EUR 3,000 and EUR 6,700 per intervention.

Silviu Moga, the new head of the ICUTR beginning this year, said he found the institute in a disastrous situation, with large debts and inappropriate medical services, Pressone.ro reported. The institute had low performance indicators, and received little financing as a result. The ICUTR went from treating 167 cases in 2013 to only 42 in 2017.

Lukmed is owned by the couple Mihai and Maria Lucan, and is administered by their son Valerian Ciprian Lucan, according to Trade Registry data quoted by Pressone.ro. Maria Lucan was the head of the Cluj Court of Auditors until 2012. The clinic is located on a plot of land which Lukmed obtained from the Cluj-Napoca Local Council for a price at least three times lower than the market value, according to Pressone.ro.

Famous Romanian surgeon loses almost EUR 4 million which he can’t justify

editor@romania-insider.com