A large-scale scheme for siphoning money from Bulgaria’s National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) has been uncovered following an operation conducted by the Economic Police in Plovdiv, Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev announced after a government meeting.
Demerdzhiev said the investigation was part of a broader effort launched by the government to identify and stop the misuse of public funds. According to the findings so far, those involved allegedly used around 3,000 fictitious clinical rehabilitation pathways to claim payments for patients who had never actually received the medical services in question.
“From the moment we took office, the Prime Minister tasked us with identifying and countering the draining of public resources,” Demerdzhiev stated, describing the case as one of the most significant operations carried out in that direction.
Investigators have already questioned more than 35 witnesses. Six individuals were detained during the operation, while five have been formally charged in connection with the scheme.
Authorities estimate that the damage caused to the Health Insurance Fund amounts to roughly half a million euros over the course of a single year. The money was allegedly obtained through fraudulent referrals and the unauthorized use of physicians’ official stamps. According to the Interior Ministry, many of the doctors whose stamps were used were unaware that their identities had been exploited as part of the operation.
