A gigantic dentist fraud. He extorted PLN 1.2 million from the National Health Fund and now he has to pay back the money

On Tuesday, the District Court in Miastko sentenced dentist Bartłomiej S. to one year in prison, suspended for three years, and ordered the doctor to compensate the damage to the National Health Fund. He is to return over PLN 1.2 million that he extorted from the Fund.

At the announcement of the verdict, Bartłomiej S., a dentist from Miastko, who was the defendant's free agent, was not present. The defendant's defense attorney, public prosecutor and auxiliary prosecutor also did not appear in the courtroom.

Judge Tomasz Ginter found Bartłomiej S. guilty of committing 6,197 acts of certifying untruths in documents to the detriment of the National Health Fund in order to obtain financial gain and turn the crimes committed into a permanent source of income. In the years 2011-2021, the accused extorted a total of over PLN 1,231,000 from the National Health Fund. zloty.

Having concluded an agreement with the National Health Fund for the provision of health care services, in the dental treatment card and in the medical application used for financial settlements with the Fund, Bartłomiej S. entered the services that he actually provided to his patients as part of his private practice. Patients paid for them, not the National Health Fund. The documents also included entries for services that were provided only partially or not at all and were paid for by the National Health Fund.

For committing these crimes, Judge Ginter sentenced the dentist from Miastko to a total penalty of one year of imprisonment, suspended for three years. During this time, he is to inform the probation officer about the course of the trial.

In addition, Bartłomiej S. is to pay PLN 54,000. PLN fine, repair the damage to the injured party of the National Health Fund in the amount specified in the indictment. The court also imposed a 10-year ban on the dentist from conducting business activities involving the provision of medical services for the National Health Fund under a contract for the provision of health care services. This means that the doctor can still run a private practice.

Bartłomiej S. is to pay over PLN 11,000 to the State Treasury. PLN court costs and PLN 730 legal representation costs for the Pomeranian Branch of the National Health Fund.

The judgment is not final.

– Undoubtedly, the evidence presented indicates the perpetration and guilt of the accused, who admitted to committing the alleged acts and voluntarily submitted to the punishment agreed with the prosecutor's office – said Judge Ginter in the oral reasons for the judgment.

In the judge's opinion, the penalties imposed will “appropriately affect” the defendant and prevent him from committing further crimes of this type. The probation period of three years is, in the court's opinion, “sufficient”. Moreover, if the accused does not pay the fine, he will face imprisonment. Judge Ginter also added that the parties did not dispute the amount of damage specified in the indictment.

At the hearing on December 3, attorney Piotr Sut, on behalf of his client Bartłomiej S., requested a judgment to be issued without a hearing. The dentist expressed his will to voluntarily submit to punishment, admitted to committing the alleged acts, but, as in the investigation, refused to provide explanations.

The defendant's lawyer proposed the sentence. He informed about ongoing talks with the National Health Fund regarding the installment repayment of the amount extorted by the accused. The defense lawyer and the accused agreed to introduce changes to the application proposed by the prosecutor of the District Prosecutor's Office in Słupsk, Agata Wrzosek-Antosik. The application was not opposed by legal counsel Anna Barska, representing the injured NFZ. Judge Ginter granted the defense's request to issue a judgment without a hearing and closed the court proceedings at one hearing.

A notification about the possibility of committing a crime by Bartłomiej S. was sent to the District Prosecutor's Office in Miastko in December 2020 by the Pomeranian Branch of the National Health Fund. The case came to light because one of the dentist's patients, while reviewing her patient account, noticed entries about dental treatment under the National Health Fund, while she only used private and fully paid visits. She asked the National Health Fund for an explanation and an investigation was started, which was taken over by the District Prosecutor's Office in Słupsk in February 2022.

It concerned irregularities committed by Bartłomiej S. in the settlement of medical services with the National Health Fund in the period from 2011 to the end of 2019. In 2024, an indictment covering 794 acts for the amount of over PLN 165,000. PLN went to court. At that time, in separate proceedings, the prosecutor's office was collecting further evidence against the dentist from Miastko. It ended in September by submitting an indictment to the court covering 5,403 acts committed until 2021 for an amount of over PLN 1 million.

Both cases against Bartłomiej S. were combined and incorporated into one trial. The prosecutor's office requested this at the hearing on August 12 this year, and the court, accepting the request, adjourned it until December 3. (PAP)

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