Police discovered that health care industry crooks apparently created fraudulent clinics, hospitals and other health care institutions (IPS) as tools for embezzlement.
According to National Police commander General Oscar Naranjo, the Colombian judicial police (DIJIN) found documentation of health care institutions (IPS) being created fraudulently for embezzlement purposes during an analysis of information from the health insurance entities administering the subsidized scheme for the low-income population (ARS).
The chief of police said they are investigating to resolve how many of these fictitious institutions were “created” to defraud the state.
Naranjo explained that on paper, it appears thousands of Colombians were recipients of public health funds when in reality those funds were never delivered.
Officials in the health care sector are accused of defrauding the country for $2.5 billion in an elaborate scheme in which, according to the evidence, the allegedly corrupt officials would reject Colombian citizens’ applications for health insurance assistance with paying medical bills. The act is illegal because all employed Colombians pay a percentage of their salary to the country’s health sector and, accordingly, have a right to receive help with medical fees.
After rejecting the claims, the corrupt officials apparently proceeded to use the patients’ information to file the applications as if they had been accepted, keeping the surplus money, with the patients unaware of their actions.
