Conman surgeon, Weinberger, extradited from Malpensa

The well-known American plastic surgeon, Mark Steven Weinberger, who was born in 1963, and who has been sought internationally since 2007, was extradited this morning. He is accused of being responsible for swindling over $10 million out of American health insurance companies. Weinberger was caught by Italian military police in Courmayeur, on 15 December, 2009, as he was trying, most probably, to cross over into Switzerland. In collaboration with US government and FBI staff, the Investigation Section of the Border Police in Malpensa Airport proceeded with the extradition. From 2007, until his arrest in Italy, Weinberger had escaped international capture by moving continuously from country to country on a yacht. The immediate request for extradition (which was granted by the Court of Appeal in Turin) was satisfied today when the wanted man was delivered by the prison guards at Turin’s “Lorusso Cotugno” Prison to the Investigation Section of the Airport Police, who handed him over to US government and FBI staff, who had come over especially to accompany him to the American prison to which he has been “assigned”.

 

Weinberger, 46, was found hiding in a tent, at the foot of a glacier, as he was maybe seeking a life in the wilderness, or maybe he was ready to cross the Col Ferret into Switzerland, near the Elena Refuge. Considered a “prodigy” of American plastic surgery, the nose surgeon, who graduated from Pennsylvania University and specialised at the prestigious UCLA, began working in Chicago, and later opened a clinic with his name, in Merrilville, Indiana. He became extremely wealthy, with earnings of $3-4 million a year, luxury goods, a private aeroplane, a yacht, cooks and personal trainers, caviar and champagne, and limousines. In 2004, his problems began, when a patient made a complaint of negligence against him, and the lawsuits gradually began to accumulate. A total of 22 accusations of health fraud were made, with demands for compensation amounting to millions of dollars. He fled, taking with him millions of dollars, to Monte Carlo, China, France and, eventually, Italy. His journey ended with a Continental Malpensa-USA flight, one way.