English
The nine individuals suspected in the case involving the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) and the “Sante Plus” eye clinic have been placed under precautionary measures. The Criminal Court accepted the proposal from the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption (PPO GOKK); consequently, the suspects have had their passports confiscated and are required to report to the court on a regular basis.
Late last night, the owner of “Sante Plus”—Turkish businessman Bilal Kara—was also arrested. He is charged with the criminal offense of money laundering, reported “Kanal 5.” Acting on the orders of a public prosecutor from the PPO GOKK, police officers arrested B.K. for the criminal offense of money laundering and the laundering of proceeds from criminal activity, stated Ministry of Interior spokesperson Goce Andreevski.
Kara is well-known to law enforcement authorities in the region; Albania has issued a warrant for his arrest due to suspicions regarding several criminal offenses. These include the failure to declare income amounting to one million euros through the “International Medicare” clinic (formerly “Sante Plus”), as well as the use of expired medications and the illegal importation of medical supplies.
According to media reports from Kosovo, serious legal violations were also uncovered at the “Sante Plus” facility in Pristina. The hospital operated for two years without a license, and there were instances where patients were injected with water instead of Botox. The eye hospital in Skopje—which, according to a formal complaint, has double charged both the Health Insurance Fund and several thousand patients for surgeries—is operating at full capacity. The Kanal 5 team sought answers from the management but received none.
The private hospital was closed yesterday; however, as reported by Kanal 5, it is operating as usual today. Inside, the lobby is full of patients undergoing examinations and scheduling eye surgeries. Through the contentious agreement between the Fund and “Sante Plus,” the state budget incurred a loss of 1.7 million euros, while the private hospital gained an unlawful benefit of nearly 4.5 million euros. The agreement was signed during the tenure of Den Donchev as head of the Fund; according to Kanal 5 sources, he is currently not in the country.