Beroš Case: Hospital Equipment Overpriced by up to 200 Percent

(Patria) - The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) accuses Hrvoje Petrač, his sons Novica and Nikola, the owner of the company Medical Innovation Solutions Saša Pozder, and the head of the Regional Office of the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) from Krapina, Tomo Pavić, of bribing high-ranking doctors and Minister Vili Beroš himself to place their robotic microscopes and robotic surgical systems in hospitals at heavily inflated prices, even up to 200 percent, writes Jutarnji list.

Thus, EPPO claims, organized by Petrač and Pozder, and using Pavić, who is also a member of the management boards of three healthcare institutions, they contacted directors and heads of clinics of all major hospitals in Croatia, offering them rewards for favoring the purchase of their equipment.

According to the evidence collected so far, they succeeded in three hospitals: at the Children's Hospital in Klaićeva in Zagreb with the help of the now suspected director Goran Roić, at the Sisters of Mercy University Hospital with the help of the head of the Department of Neurosurgery Krešimir Rotim, and at the Clinical Hospital Center Osijek with the help of an as yet unknown person.

Investigators claim that with appropriate bribe amounts, they enabled the sale of these devices, which were purchased for 120,000 to 130,000 euros, to hospitals at a price higher than 350,000 euros without VAT. This resulted in the company Medical earning around 620,000 euros, and the company partially transferred the illegal profit to another company owned by members of the Petrač family.

Given that it was not enough for the responsible persons in the hospitals to adapt the technical specifications to their equipment, as the Ministry of Health's approval was required for financing, they also ensured that the hospitals obtained such approvals.

EPPO claims that Minister Beroš received a bribe of 25,000 euros for each signature, a total of 75,000 euros for three hospitals.