Hospital director in pretrial custody for giving free care to wealthy cronies

A former director at a hospital belonging to the Red Cross in Athens was returned to pretrial custody Wednesday by a corruption prosecutor after testifying at a hearing over his alleged provision of free medical care to prominent and wealthy people.

The allegations refer to the period from 2007 to 2010 when Andreas Martinis was a director at the Henry Dunant Hospital in northern Athens. The 72-year-old was already in prison for a case involving alleged kickbacks he received back in 1998 from a German company, and money laundering, while running the hospital.

According to the case file, Martinis secured free healthcare for 51 people, including former premiers and their relatives, former ministers, deputies, artists and journalists. Prosecuting attorneys claim the hospital incurred a loss of almost 22 million euros.