Reggio Calabria - A far-reaching criminal network covering large parts of the province of Reggio Calabria has been dismantled in a coordinated operation by the NAS Carabinieri. The investigators uncovered a system in which greed for profit came at the expense of the general public and seriously ill people. The investigations focus on serious allegations ranging from corruption and fraud to unauthorized access to IT systems.
A criminal network of doctors and logisticians
The investigation by the Reggio Calabria public prosecutor's office paints a frightening picture of organized crime within the healthcare sector. According to the investigation, the association consisted of a complex network of players: in addition to the owner and employees of a transport company, a regional manager of a multinational gas supplier, pharmacists, specialists from the health authority (ASP) and general practitioners were also involved. Even some patients are said to have been in cahoots with the perpetrators.
Legal action was taken against a total of 12 people. Of these, four people are under house arrest, while others have been banned from their profession, required to report to the police or suspended from work in the health sector. The accusation is serious: the delivery of medical oxygen was allegedly faked by creating false treatment plans and medical prescriptions as well as fictitious transportation documents.
Massive damage to the national healthcare system
The group's operational approach was as simple as it was brazen. Those involved certified deliveries of medical gas, usually intended for patients with severe respiratory illnesses or in the terminal stage, although these deliveries never actually took place. The costs of these never-delivered services were billed to the National and Regional Health System. In some cases, names of unsuspecting or even non-existent patients were used.
In the course of the raid, which was supported by units from Naples and local authorities, the judiciary not only confiscated the transport company concerned, but also ordered the seizure of a sum of 48,000 euros from the multinational supplier involved. However, the authorities emphasize that the proceedings are still at the preliminary investigation stage and that the presumption of innocence applies to all those involved until a final conviction is handed down.
