All four surgeries were performed by Dr. Ronald Busuttil, executive chairman of UCLA's surgery department. He is considered an expert on liver transplants and is one of the the highest-paid surgeons in the University of California campus.
The Los Angeles Times identified the most prominent liver recipient as Tadamasa Goto, leader of the Goto-gumi gang. His donor was a young man who died in a traffic accident. The three other liver recipients were not named.
Goto was previously banned from the U.S. because of his criminal record, but the FBI assisted him secure a visa in 2001 in exchange for his testimony on Japanese criminal gangs, according to Jim Stern, former head of FBI's criminal enterprise unit.
Stern admitted to the Los Angeles Times, "I don't think Goto gave the bureau anything of significance... (Goto) came to the States and got a liver and was laughing back to where he came from... it defies logic."
Goto was barred from returning to the U.S., but Busuttil subsequently flew to Japan to check on his patient.
The case sparked debates because the surgeries took place on a year when 186 Los Angeles residents died while waiting for a spare liver at the same period.
The Los Angeles Times said Busuttil and UCLA were unaware that the four Japanese patients were members of the Yakuza. Busuttil, in a statement quoted by AP, said, "As a surgeon, it is not my role to pass moral judgment on the patients who seek my care... If one of my patients, domestic or international, were in a situation that could be life-threatening, of course I would do everything in my power to assure that they would receive proper care."
The UCLA Health System declined to comment further. It cited medical privacy laws which forbade them from commenting on specific cases.
