49 Suspects Named in Custodial Care and Disability Pensions Case

Doctors-specialists, family doctors, and employees of the Clinical Centre in Skopje and the Veles General Hospital, functioning in two groups, created a scheme to falsify diagnoses in order to enable financial assistance to be received for custodial care and disability pensions, the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecution of Organized Crime and Corruption has said regarding the its joint operation with the Interior Ministry.

According to the authorities, one group was formed at the Neurology Clinic in Skopje, which first consisted of three employees. Then, nine people, including two specialists, a family doctor, a lawyer, and a Tetovo Social Works Centre employee joined it, the Office said on Thursday, adding that those persons would prepare medical referrals, discharge letters, consultant opinions, and certificates about medical aids with false content.

The prime suspect, authorities explained, on the basis of the same scheme, created another group at the ENT Clinic in the capital, where she was joined by 12 people, who would ask for and take bribe money in exchange for promising to secure disability pensions for the damaged parties. 49 people are suspected of criminal association, abuse of official position, and taking and giving a bribe.

A detention measure and house arrest one has been proposed for 12 and three of them, respectively. One suspect is at large, while measures of precaution have been proposed for the rest.

“In return, the organisers and members of the criminal group would take unlawful activities of directly or indirectly giving or offering monetary awards, bribing official persons, as well as unlawful activities of directly or indirectly taking monetary awards or bribery by ensuring applicants meet conditions for a successful carrying out of the procedure to acquire a custodial care right”, the Office added in the press-release.

The previous day, during the searches, the Interior Ministry had found 110,000 euros, multiple mobile phones, notebooks containing data on debtors, medical documentation, and multiple facsimile seals.