City scope: Reality bites for fake dentist

It's hard to fathom quite why rogue dentist David Wu (right) turned himself in recently after being on the lam for so long.

For six months, Wu, who also goes by the name Tung Sheng Wu, had ignored all entreaties to appear in court to face the rap over his illegal dentistry practice. Last month he was sentenced in absentia to three months in jail and ordered to pay more than C$100,000 (HK$742,000) in fines. A week ago, however, he turned himself in to the Toronto Police Service.

Believed to have been trained in dentistry during military service in Taiwan, Wu ran his practice out of various private residences in the Vancouver area over the past decade or so, until earlier this year.

And even after a nationwide warrant was put out for his arrest in August, many of his patients kept in contact with him. While eluding the law, he somehow managed to keep making house calls, in one case adjusting a patient's braces.

For all the loyalty he clearly commands, though, he has had the might of the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia on his case. In British Columbia, anyone calling themselves a dentist must be qualified, registered and trained at a college-approved institution. After Wu, 62, took flight, the body offered a C$2,000 reward for information about his whereabouts and hired a private investigator to track him down. To their chagrin, he remained one step ahead.