Caught With a 100 Million Won Luxury Car... Delinquent Hiding for 7 Years Tracked Down by NHIS

Recovering Illicit Gains from Illegal Medical Institutions with New Collection Techniques

# Mr. A, who is not a licensed pharmacist, was caught illegally establishing and operating a pharmacy (so-called "license-lending pharmacy") by borrowing someone else's license, resulting in 7 billion won in unpaid dues. For the past seven years, he has evaded forced collection by refusing to answer calls from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) encouraging payment and thoroughly hiding his residence. After analyzing Mr. A's income and surroundings and conducting surveillance, the NHIS discovered that he was engaging in economic activities under another person's name and living a luxurious lifestyle, driving a foreign luxury car worth about 100 million won. The NHIS conducted a surprise search of his residence, seizing cash and high-end home appliances. Ultimately, they secured a lump-sum payment of 100 million won from Mr. A and an agreement for monthly installment payments of 3 million won.

On January 23, the NHIS announced that last year it collected a total of 19.1 billion won through comprehensive collection activities targeting high-value and habitual delinquent payers, such as those operating illegal medical clinics or license-lending pharmacies, who intentionally concealed their assets.

Illegal medical institutions focus solely on profit generation rather than public health, adversely affecting the health insurance system. However, collection has become increasingly difficult as delinquent payers cleverly hide their assets or falsify their addresses. In response, the NHIS operates a dedicated "Special Task Force for Illegal Institutions" to counter sophisticated concealment tactics.

In particular, the NHIS has established a foundation for recovering about 1 billion won in delinquent payments through newly implemented "advanced collection techniques." These include: ▲ seizing dormant deposits left unclaimed by financial consumers or court-held surety deposits; ▲ seizing claims for medical expenses paid by private auto insurers; ▲ and swiftly seizing medical equipment such as X-ray machines from closed illegal clinics. By newly identifying types of claims that were previously difficult to access, the NHIS has expanded the scope of asset recovery and minimized blind spots in seizing hidden assets.

The NHIS also actively files civil lawsuits, such as "fraudulent conveyance cancellation suits," to recover hidden assets when property has been transferred to family or acquaintances. As a result of these efforts, the cumulative collection rate has risen from 8.3% at the end of 2024 to 8.8% at the end of 2025.

Going forward, the NHIS plans to increase pressure by utilizing all available measures, including public disclosure of high-value delinquent payers' personal information, providing credit information, and imposing travel bans. In particular, the agency aims to further advance its big data-based tracking system to fundamentally block asset concealment.

An NHIS official stated, "We will track down and collect all hidden assets to the very end," and urged, "Since voluntary public reporting is extremely helpful, please check the list published on our website and actively provide information."

Meanwhile, as of last month, the maximum reward for reporting hidden assets has been raised from 2 billion won to 3 billion won.