A US man who stole the identity of top Hollywood cosmetic surgeon Dr Steven Hopping and operated on patients has been jailed in Dubai.

The Times online reports that 40-year-old Steven Moos passed himself off as the top cosmetic surgeon and set up an operating theatre in the kitchen of his apartment in Dubai, where he carried out cosmetic procedures.

Moos left one female patient with scarred lips and another patient lost a nipple following a cosmetic procedure. Police found more than 100 medical files for patients when they raided his apartment. Moos was also found to have forged an ID card for the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital in Dubai, where Dr Steven Hopping practises.

Dr Hopping is based in Washington DC and is a former president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery – he is internationally renowned for his ‘liquid facelift’ procedure.

The conditions in the apartment belonging to Moos were reportedly so poor that fat removed during liposuction procedures was found in a cooking pot and plastic water bottles. However, Moos denies the allegations made by some of his patients that he operated on them using cooking equipment.

Some sources allege that patients knew Moos was not Dr Hopping – but his prices were so cheap that they went ahead with the surgery. He was unmasked when patients of the genuine Dr Hopping came across the fake practice and alerted Dr Hopping.

Moos was jailed for three months, after which he will be deported back to the US, where he is wanted on charges of ‘carrying out surgery without a licence’ – and for allegedly smuggling medical drugs into the US.

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