Corruption Scandal in Slovenia’s Healthcare, Bribes Stored in Accounts in Croatia

The Special State Prosecutor’s Office of Slovenia announced on Monday that it has filed charges against 15 individuals and one company for corruption in healthcare, and according to Slovenian media, this could be the largest corruption scandal in Slovenia.

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Among the accused are eight prominent doctors, several family members, and representatives of pharmaceutical companies.

It is suspected that at least five of them received significant amounts of money as bribes, some exceeding 100,000 euros, according to the special institution responsible for particularly serious cases of organized and economic crime.

The criminal investigation began in 2013 when hidden cash and gold were found during home searches, resulting in charges for bribery, money laundering, and falsification or destruction of documentation.

Investigations were conducted at 58 locations in the areas of Ljubljana, Celje, Maribor, Koper, and Novo Mesto, and among the accused are several doctors and healthcare workers, their “associates,” and intermediary helpers who deposited money into accounts abroad, including in Austria and Croatia, Slovenian media report.

According to the portal of the newspaper “Slovenske novice,” manufacturers of medical equipment and devices and their intermediaries preemptively “built in” necessary commissions into the price structure of products for which they wanted to gain an advantage during selection in hospitals and healthcare institutions, which represented between 5 to 20 percent of the final price.

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This is reportedly the largest corruption scandal in Slovenia to date, although this topic, along with the state of banks, has been very relevant in recent years.

In a recent campaign ahead of parliamentary elections, all parties promised to “establish order” in healthcare institutions, ensure a sustainable way of financing healthcare, and reduce procurement prices for devices and medical equipment that are higher than the usual European prices, precisely because of intermediaries and the non-transparent way of their procurement.