“This investigation represents over four years of effort in gathering and correlating evidence,” said Rui Zilhão at a press conference.
The investigation, which revealed that the doctor had been prescribing such medications since 2014, was initiated following an anonymous complaint, he shared.
The doctor is alleged to have defrauded the state of more than three million euros through fraudulent co-payment claims, he emphasized.
In addition to this endocrinologist, who was detained and will appear for the first judicial interrogation on Thursday, three more individuals have been named as defendants, including another doctor, a lawyer, and a company, he stated.
The crimes in question involve aggravated fraud and computer-related falsehoods, he noted.
According to Rui Zilhão, the investigation has gathered sufficient evidence to indicate that a group of individuals, along with a company, devised a scheme to prescribe medications primarily used for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes to individuals seeking to lose weight.
Between 1,000 and 2,000 patients were given these prescriptions by the doctor, he revealed.
The next step involves determining whether these individuals indeed suffer from diabetes, he added.
Rui Zilhão explained that they found that patients spread the word that a particular clinic had excellent results in weight loss.
“The manner in which the medication was prescribed is still under review,” he reinforced.
The prescription of medications to patients who do not suffer from the diseases the drugs are intended is a concern not only for Portuguese society but also for the Judicial Police, he stressed.
“This is why we cannot ignore such occurrences, especially when they cause medication shortages in the market,” he noted.
For this reason, the Judicial Police has established a specialized team to address this type of fraud against the National Health Service (SNS), he highlighted.
The criminal investigation coordinator emphasized that the searches, expected to conclude by the end of the day and involving 40 inspectors from the Judicial Police and Tax Authority, target the defendants’ homes, a lawyer’s office, a health clinic in Porto, and the headquarters of two companies in Albufeira, Faro District, and Funchal, Madeira.
Additionally, searches are being conducted in accounting offices in Santa Maria da Feira and Lousada, both in the Porto District, he concluded.
