Charges against a number of directors from various Kenyan hospitals as well as several government officials all linked to Social Health Authority (SHA) fraud – worth about $8.3m – have been approved by the country’s Director of Public Prosecutions, reports Kenyans.co.ke
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) confirmed last week that it had received and reviewed the investigation files from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) regarding the alleged crimes involving directors from a number of healthcare facilities as well as members of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council.
Some of the charges include operating unlicensed healthcare facilities, conspiracy to defraud, unauthorised access to computer systems, and abuse of office.
Kenyans.co.ke refrained from publishing the names of the facilities and individuals due to legal considerations.
The DCI said it would be ramping up investigations into fraud within the healthcare system, and that “comprehensive forensic tracing, intelligence gathering, and multi-agency collaboration continue unabated”.
The approval comes a month after Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale vowed to publicly name all hospitals and firms involved in fraudulent claims worth Ksh11bn (about $8.3m) that had been rejected by the SHA’s fraud detection system.
Duale said that the money remains unaccounted for.
“In the interest of transparency and accountability, all parties found to have attempted to benefit from these rejected claims will be made public, in accordance with the law,” declared CS Duale.
Kenyans.co.ke article – DPP Approves Charges in Ksh11 Billion SHA Fraud (Open access)
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