In the Kyiv region, law enforcement officers exposed an illegal scheme to extort money from patients for ophthalmological operations that were supposed to be performed free of charge at the state’s expense. The perpetrators face up to 12 years in prison for the crimes they committed.
The investigation established that in one of the medical institutions in the region, officials organized an illegal mechanism to collect money from people during preparation for microsurgical interventions on the eyes. The suspects include the hospital’s general director and the former head of the ophthalmology department.
Patients were forced to buy expensive artificial lenses at their own expense, despite the fact that these medical products and the surgeries themselves were financed by the state under the Medical Guarantees Program. The cost of one such implant on open sale could reach several tens of thousands of hryvnias.
At the same time, officials prepared medical documentation as if the lenses had been purchased by the hospital. Based on this data, the National Health Service of Ukraine compensated the medical institution for the products that were actually already purchased by the patients.
As a result of such actions, the state suffered losses of almost 2 million hryvnias. The collected evidence became the basis for reporting the defendants on suspicion under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – misappropriation or embezzlement of property through abuse of official position.
The sanction of the article provides for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property and a ban on holding certain positions or engaging in relevant activities. Currently, law enforcement officers are checking the possible involvement of other medical institutions in similar abuses.
