Media: The Russian mafia is working in the area of patient care in Germany
Numerous cases of fraud in the outpatient treatment provided by companies created by immigrants from the former Soviet Union were recorded in Germany. Losses are estimated at approximately one billion euros per year.
Outpatient services that provide care for the disabled in Germany, founded by immigrants from former Soviet countries, cheat social insurance of at least one billion euros per year. This information was published by Welt am Sonntag, on Sunday, April 17, and the Bavarian media company Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR).
The Federal Office of Criminal Affairs (BKA), who is investigating this case, is aware of the organized crime operating in this area. The German Fund for Patients Protection says that the control over the activities of such companies was recently minimized significantly.
According to journalists, such service companies falsify records of treatments and receive fees for services that were not provided. The fraudulent schemes often involve patients themselves, primarily from the former Soviet Union, and simulate the need for care. Fraudulently obtained funds are then divided between the company and the patient. Recently, the fraudulent companies switched to patients requiring intensive care. For each patient, they can illegally obtain up to 15 thousand euros per month from the social insurance office.
"The cases of fraud in the healthcare system is a phenomenon common throughout Germany. However, it is particularly evident when closed systems are formed because of language groups," Welt am Sonntag quoted an internal BKA document. There is information where, in "some cases, investment in the Russian outpatient care services became a sphere of Russian-Eurasian organized crime."
Social Security estimated losses from fraud from these companies amount to at least one billion euros per year. This amount is based on calculations of Deutsche Fachpflege Gruppe Association. According to the estimates, one in five euros spent on outpatient care is paid for no reason, and most of these funds are received by companies founded by immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
These fraud companies are most active, according to media reports, in Berlin, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. From the ranks of the government coalition in Germany, calls for the need to strengthen control over the activities of outpatient services are already being heard.