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At a press conference held on Thursday, the details of this investigation were revealed by the Prosecutor of the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office Žydrūnas Radišauskas and the Head of the Central Investigation Board of the STT Darius Balčiūnas.
PHOTO GALLERY. Corruption scandal in Lithuanian medicine
It is suspected that the medical equipment companies may have illegally won the purchases of various Lithuanian medical institutions for more than 3 million. The Special Investigation Service (STT) said Thursday.
“Data collected by STT officials currently suggests that representatives of companies trading in medical devices and equipment, possibly operating by various illegal means, may have allowed companies to illegally gain purchases from various Lithuanian medical institutions for more of 3 million – read in the report of the Office.
Currently, 35 people have been charged with various crimes of corruption, four of whom are heads of private companies and six are heads of medical institutions.
According to the STT, more than a hundred crimes are being investigated. It is suspected that they may have involved more than a dozen medical institutions from different municipalities, their managers and other people responsible for public procurement.
“March 2, a large-scale operation was carried out. The pre-trial investigation investigated the criminal offenses of systemic corruption: abuse, bribery, bribery. The acquisitions were initiated by health care institutions.
Medical equipment and various instruments were purchased for a total value of more than 3 million. euros. The study covers more than a year. Medical institutions acted against the interests of the service. The hiring was illegally agreed with at least 5 companies.
Competition was restricted and other buyers were discriminated against. Only protected companies were able to win. It is worth mentioning that the investigation has a wide scope: more than 100 crimes. The investigation includes 5 private companies and 10 medical institutions, ”said Prosecutor Ž. Radišauskas.
D. Balčiūnas added that a long-term non-public investigation was carried out this week: “STT officials from all territorial units participated in the operation, FNTT colleagues contributed. More than 100 agents participated in the operation. About 270 thousand were seized during the search. Euro cash in various currencies. The data suggests that the bribery was aimed at winning public tenders for the purchase of medical devices. “
There are 35 suspects in the pre-trial investigation. Most of them have been given a written commitment not to leave and a communication ban. Only one suspect was arrested. The prosecutor confirmed that only Erlandas Sudeikis, the head of Graina, had been detained. The arrest of two more suspects was requested, but the court refused to do so.
An administrator has been removed
Povilas Poderskis, director of the Vilnius municipal administration, also commented on the situation of the heads of medical institutions detained by the STT on Thursday.
Mr. Podersky noted that there are many suspects in this investigation: “This is public procurement that is not related to Covid-19. We will cooperate with officials and provide all necessary information. The problem is sad and reveals systemic problems. “
The representative of the municipality added that according to the information provided by the Prosecutor’s Office, the head of the Šeškin had polyclinic had been dismissed: “The head of the Šeškinė polyclinic had been dismissed indefinitely. Narimantas Markevičius, the director of the Vilnius City Clinical Hospital, was also reportedly dismissed, but managed to go on vacation yesterday morning. So there is no point in removing it until now. If he returns, he will be removed at the same time. “
The Šeškinė polyclinic will be used to combat the coronavirus. It is hoped that the appointment of an interim manager will not interrupt that process.
There were arrests
Yesterday, it was announced that the STT had arrested Daiva Kanopienė, director of the Šeškinė polyclinic, and Narimantas Markevičius, director of the Vilnius Clinical Hospital, due to possible corruption in public procurement in the health sector.
According to BNS, Virginija Domarkas, director of the medical equipment company Limeta, member of the Kretinga District Council, former parliamentary social democrat, as well as Kęstutis Kutkauskas, director of the company Limeta NT, a shareholder of both companies, were arrested and suspected of law enforcement.
He is the husband of Jelena Kutkauskienė, director of the Vilnius Republican University Hospital. D. Kanopienė, the detained head of the Šeškinė polyclinic, is the wife of Vidmantas Kanopa, a member of the Seimas and a Social Democrat.
The accusations were also made against E. Sudeikis, chairman of the board and shareholder of Graina, a company also located in Panevėžys, which also sells medical equipment.
According to data from the Central Public Procurement Portal, Limeta and Graina have won dozens of public tenders in various health institutions in the country.
The STT announced Wednesday that it is conducting a large-scale pre-trial investigation into alleged corruption in the procurement of medical equipment and other medical devices at various health centers around the country.
Both the Vilnius Clinical Hospital and its shareholder, the capital municipality, claimed that they still had no information about the manager’s arrest.
“We still have no official information,” Vilnius spokesman Karolis Vaitkevičius told BNS.
“I can say that he was not at work and I don’t know anything about the arrest,” said Vaidas Kukarėnas, advisor to the director of the Vilnius City Clinical Hospital.
The pre-trial investigation is directed and organized by a group of prosecutors from the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Directorate of the Attorney General’s Office and the Organized Crime and Corruption Investigation Division of the District Attorney’s Office.
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