Kosovo Doctors Suspected of Health Scam

Kosovo police detained nine doctors and three other health officials on Thursday, suspected of abusing their positions to send business to private hospitals in return for cash.

They are suspected of signing deals with private hospitals to send patients for treatment there when public hospitals had the capacity to do the same treatments for free. 

"The defendants enabled the private hospitals to benefit by getting payment from the Health Ministry's budget for the cost of treating patients who were sent there against official instructions," the prosecution said.

The procedures in question were mostly heart surgeries. One of the private hospitals with which the defendants signed the agreement to cooperate did not have a license to do heart surgeries.

Prosecutors have not sought detention for three other officials who were interrogated in the round-up - including the Health Minister, Ferid Agani, and the former director of the University Clinic of Kosovo. 

The investigation into the alleged scam started in June. 

Besnik Berisha, a lawyer of Nexhmi Zeqiri, one of the doctors, said it was strange that the prosecutor requested detention only for the doctors and not for the other officials who were detained. 

"They are all suspected of the same charges, but the prosecutor has requested detention on remand only for the doctors," Berisha told BIRN.