Police had been taking an interest in Mariusz C. for some time. They suspected that the doctor from a psychiatric hospital accepted bribes for issuing medical documentation to healthy people seeking pensions and compensation. They wanted to catch him in the act.
That is why one of the officers visited the physician several times, posing as a patient. He claimed that he needed forged papers stating that he was ill. Eventually, in July, he arranged a meeting with the doctor and handed him PLN 3,000.
A moment later, the other officers moved in and arrested Mariusz C. In his office, they found PLN 138,000. The doctor had PLN 20,000 in his coat pocket, with the rest stuffed into a plastic bag and a drawer. He had worked for only three hours that day. Police suspect that the PLN 138,000 consisted solely of bribes received that day.
The neurologist was remanded in custody. Hospital director Jan Kaczmarkiewicz dismissed him on disciplinary grounds. But the detained doctor appealed to the labor court.
The court ordered that he be reinstated. “For now, the doctor is only suspected of committing a crime,” explains Judge Krzysztof Saszkiewicz, presiding over the panel. The judge did not want to answer why the police sting did not seem to him to be obvious evidence.
The court also ordered the hospital director to pay the doctor almost PLN 20,000 in compensation. The director appealed the decision.
Mariusz C. remains behind bars, but another doctor dismissed for corruption from the same hospital, Jerzy B., has already followed his example. According to the prosecutor’s office, he accepted bribes from three criminals, issuing them false certificates in return. He too filed a lawsuit in the labor court.
Frightened by the court’s ruling in the neurologist’s case, Director Kaczmarkiewicz took him back before the hearing was even scheduled. He says he cannot afford another compensation payment.
Several investigations into corruption among doctors are being conducted in Lower Silesia alone. More than 20 medical professionals have already been charged with crimes.
(based on Gazeta Wyborcza)