$8,000 for fictitious diagnoses and removal from military registration: a doctor in the Odesa region has been exposed for abuse of influence. PHOTOS
In the Odesa region, police and Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) officers exposed a doctor who promised to arrange fraudulent disability status for a man liable for military service and have him "struck off" the military register for US$8,000.
Censor.NET reports this, citing the National Police of Ukraine.
Details
According to investigators, a doctor at one of the region's multidisciplinary hospitals offered the man a scheme to evade mobilisation. It involved documenting fictitious inpatient treatment in the surgery and neurology departments and fabricating X-ray images and results of tests the patient had never undergone.
Based on these documents, the man liable for military service was to be assigned a disability category and subsequently removed from the military register on health grounds.
To carry out the scheme, the doctor assured the "client" that he had connections and could influence the head of a hospital department, the head of an expert team assessing individuals' daily functioning, and the head of a district Territorial Centre of Recruitment and Social Support.
Law enforcement officers documented several transfers of illicit payments. The doctor received the money in instalments, with a separate payment for each "service" (from fictitious hospitalisation to the provision of fabricated test results).
The doctor was detained in accordance with criminal procedure. The evidence gathered gave investigators grounds to formally notify him of suspicion of influence peddling involving the extortion of an undue benefit.
The court remanded the doctor in custody with bail set at nearly UAH 1 million. The offence carries a penalty of up to eight years in prison with confiscation of property.
Investigative actions are ongoing. Law enforcement officers are identifying all possible accomplices in the criminal scheme.
