A third state doctor arrested in connection with corruption, was on Tuesday remanded in custody for five days as it appears the scandal may also have involved the Limassol department.
Dafnis Aristodemou, the head of Larnaca general hospital ENT department, was arrested at Larnaca airport in the early morning hours after his arrival from overseas.
It follows the arrests last week of two doctors — the head of the ENT department and executive director of Nicosia general hospital Yiannakis Kyamides in connection with taking backhanders to refer patients to a private hearing clinic in Nicosia, and Vasken Shahbenderian, who worked at the state hospital’s ENT department too.
Meanwhile police spokesman Andreas Angelides said on Tuesday that police are investigating yet another allegation of bribed state doctors, this time in Limassol. It again refers to the ENT department and concerns state doctors receiving backhanders.
Angelides said the broader scandal that has seen the three doctors placed in custody was “one of the most serious police investigations.”
An arrest warrant had been issued for Aristodemou who was abroad at the time and returned at 3.30am on Tuesday.
The doctors are suspected of receiving backhanders to refer patients to certain private centres.
They are being investigated in connection with conspiracy to commit felony, fraud, abuse of power, deceit, abuse of trust by a public servant and bribery
The court heard that Aristodemou had received €2,685 in five cheques between January 2008 and January 2011. The cheques were either collected by him in person from the hearing centre or sent by post.
Police said the management of the hearing centre in Nicosia had reported that three suspects had been paid some €143,000 in kickbacks from 2008 until the present.
The suspects were allegedly taking advantage the state’s policy of subsidising various programmes for people suffering with hearing problems.
Specifically, for people who were born deaf, the state paid a €2,730 subsidy every four years and for pensioners over 65, €175 every four years.
The state granted €23,000 per implant but to be eligible, patients needed to have the approval of a state ENT, and their director.
The court heard that the suspects allegedly received between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of the sale price of the hearing aids.
Police said the doctors demanded €300 for attaching hearing aids to people with congenital problems, €85 for each pensioner, and €2,000 for implants.
Investigators said they have documents from the hearing centre detailing the dates and amounts paid to Kyamides since 2008. The total reached some €128,000.
As regards Aristodemou, he allegedly received 2,685 in backhanders, while the third doctor received €13,000 between 2010 and 2014.
