Imperative to track all those billions lost to avoid corruption
BMJ 2012; 345 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e4607 (Published 09 July 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;345:e4607
All rapid responses
Dear Editors,
Tens of thousands of adult Greeks, appear to be living permanently, in Psychiatric Hospitals, Mental Health Centers, Geriatric Hospitals, etc.
Many of all these mentally ill patients, appear to be treated in more than one psychiatric facility!
Thousands are registered under false social security numbers!
Thousands, around 35%, are inexistent "ghost patients"!
Psychiatric Hospitals, Mental Health Centers, Geriatric Hospitals, etc, in Greece, have been claiming and receiving many more State and European Community funds than those they were supposed to, fraudulently.
Impostors, appearing as psychiatric patients, have been receiving sickness allowances.
This huge scam has managed to go undetected, even through the last 4 years of severe austerity measures and meticulous checks from European and IMF Commissioners!
References
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_04/06/2014_540325
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Editors,
Public Universities in Greece are closed for entire semesters (!) due to illegal [9][10][11][12] repeated strikes protesting mobility schemes.
Young students cannot even enroll, receive grants, participate in research, or graduate from Greek Universities because of this chaos.
Diplomas, degrees and doctoral dissertations are permanently jeopardized, since such problems do not seem to progress towards resolution in the future.
Greek Education Ministry calls Universities 'fiefdoms of lawlessness'. [1]
International credibility and efficiency of all Greek Universities is irreversibly influenced.
European donors and Research Institutions should be advised not to finance projects in any Greek University until proper educational, research and administrative functions are established and approved by independent international Committees.
References
[1] http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_10/10/2013_522551
[2] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/austerity-measures-push-gre...
[3] http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_25/09/2013_520237
[4] http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20131004142134786
[5] http://chronicle.com/article/article-content/142181/
[6] http://www.salon.com/2013/09/25/austerity_measures_push_greek_universiti...
[7] http://www.grreporter.info/en/94_universities_and_colleges_be_closed/8660
[8] http://www.grreporter.info/en/rectors_close_universities_one_after_anoth...
[9] http://www.universitiesnews.com/2013/11/09/strike-at-greek-universities-...
[10] http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/11/08/strike-at-greek-universities-...
[11] http://www.amna.gr/english/articleview.php?id=4225
[12] http://educationinwashington.org/2013/11/09/strike-at-greek-universities...
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Editors,
Only a month has passed from the publication of my previous letter in the BMJ, and a new public University fund embezzlement scandal made headlines and front pages in Greek newspapers!
Hundreds of thousands of euros were spent on needless expenses at Greece’s largest University. [1][2][3]
Prosecutors are investigating the Rector himself!
Apparently, this happens because all public Universities in Greece suffer from widespread clientelism, excessive politicization, lack of evaluation and total absence of independent quality control. [5]
In fact, even the Greek State has internally conducted evaluations of only 171 out of 520 Public University Departments! [4]
I insist that European donors and Research Institutions should be advised not to finance projects in any Greek University until proper efficiency, transparency, evaluation and ranking criteria are established by independent international Committees.
References
[1] http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/57934
[2] http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_29/08/2012_458851
[3] http://www.amna.gr/english/articleview2.php?id=1180
[4] http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_17/08/2012_457255
[5] No evaluation, excessive politicization, excessive privileges, indiscriminate distribution of opportunities, curricular rigidity, excessive central regulation, too much student absenteeism, no quality management, clientelism, lack of coordination in Greek public Universities.
Public money goes directly to the university without any intermediate evaluation of their efficiency!
Antigoni Papadimitriou’s doctoral thesis at the University of Twente, The Netherlands.
http://www.utwente.nl/mb/cheps/publications/Publications%202011/thesis%2...
Competing interests: Dr Stavros Saripanidis is a diligent taxpayer who has been financing Greek public Universities for years. He is outraged to see such extreme and embarrassing embezzlements.
Dear Editors,
Only a few days have passed from the publication of this letter of mine in the BMJ, when two new public University research fund embezzlement scandals made headlines and front pages in Greek newspapers!
In the first case, public prosecutors of Thessaloniki are accusing University staff-among them many rectors and vice rectors- of spending University research funds to pay for their transfer and stay to Istanbul, in order to attend a fancy private wedding in the Patriarchate! [3][5]
In the second case, public prosecutors of Thessaloniki are accusing a vice rector of spending University research funds to buy expensive jewelry and the new I-phone 4S in order to offer them as gifts to a beautiful actress! [6]
Greek prosecutors are involving OLAF to help investigate many other hundred-million-euro frauds in Greek public Universities. [1][4][2]
Apparently, this happens because all public Universities in Greece suffer from widespread clientelism, excessive politicization, lack of evaluation and total absence of independent quality control. [7]
I insist that European donors and Research Institutions should be advised not to finance projects in any Greek University until proper efficiency, transparency, evaluation and ranking criteria are established by independent international Committees.
References
[1] http://blogs.nature.com/news/2010/11/alleged_megafraud_under_invest.html
[2] https://fns.olaf.europa.eu/main_en.htm
[3] http://www.grreporter.info/en/teachers_and_professors_threaten_protests/...
[4] Many public University professors in Greece have systematically been using hundreds of millions of European research funds to buy fancy villas, expensive apartments and Porsche sports cars through offshore companies.
George Dimitromanolakis’ 07/11/2010 article in “To proto thema”, Greece’s largest newspaper.
[5] Manolis Galanis’ 15/07/2012 article in “To proto thema”, Greece’s largest newspaper, page 34.
[6] Manolis Galanis’ 15/07/2012 article in “To proto thema”, Greece’s largest newspaper, pages 32-33.
[7] No evaluation, excessive politicization, excessive privileges, indiscriminate distribution of opportunities, curricular rigidity, excessive central regulation, too much student absenteeism, no quality management, clientelism, lack of coordination in Greek public Universities.
Public money goes directly to the university without any intermediate evaluation of their efficiency!
Antigoni Papadimitriou’s doctoral thesis at the University of Twente, The Netherlands.
http://www.utwente.nl/mb/cheps/publications/Publications%202011/thesis%2...
Competing interests: Dr Stavros Saripanidis is a diligent taxpayer who has been financing Greek public Universities for years. He is outraged to see such extreme and embarrassing embezzlements.
Medical insurance chemotherapy fraud in Greece
Tens of thousands of fraudulent chemotherapies were performed on Greek cancer patients by a gang of public hospital staff, over many years, who would systematically steal expensive medications in order to sell them abroad.
Apart from over-charging various local insurance funds, these corrupt doctors might have compromised patient survival by administering much smaller quantities of the required chemotherapeutic drugs.
References
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2018/05/04/greek-police-arrest-medics-fo...
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-greece-crime-cancer/greece-busts-canc...
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44017657
https://www.apmhealtheurope.com/freestory/0/59647/germany-s-lunapharm-su...
Competing interests: No competing interests