ROME – The Israelite Hospital and several health clinics in the city were raided Tuesday morning by police investigating fraud within the national health service.

The current investigation has been ongoing since January. Eleven officials have been named by the inquiry, including Antonio Mastrapasqua, former President of the INPS (National Institute for Social Welfare) and director general of the Israelite Hospital at the time of the alleged transgressions.

Concerns were first raised in 2009 when a routine check revealed that many invoices for simple dental procedures were requesting reimbursement from the state for hospitalisation, or further medical treatment.

Further inquiries brought to light the fact that between 2006 and 2009 fake hospitalisation and treatments were added on to the vast majority of invoices, as many as 94 per cent of cases. The “phantom” procedures inflated costs by as much as 100 per cent. For instance, in orthopaedics, simple procedures performed in outpatient or day-clinics were instead recorded as having required a hospital stay, sending the price to the public purse rocketing from 2,759 euros to 4,629.

 In response to the findings of the investigation, the Lazio region suspended payment of 15.5 million euros to the hospital.  President of the Rome prosecution office, Carlo Rienzi, promised to ensure that if the allegations proved true damages would be sought to restore the money lost. He pointed out that “the health sector has been one of the hardest hit by spending cuts, for this reason fraud within the health service would be very damaging both financially and morally.”

The Israelite Hospital has a long history in Rome, tracing its origins to a charity begun in the Jewish ghetto in 1600 to provide a minimum of healthcare in the area. The hospital’s main building in the Magliana neighbourhood opened its doors in 1970, whilst the hospital’s historic building on the Isola Tiberina remains a clinic and the administrative base.