CBI raids 11 corporate hospitals in CGHS scam

HYDERABAD: Officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)conduced raids at several corporate hospitals in the city in connection with the ongoing investigation into the alleged fraud committed by them in the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).Sources in CBI said that 11 corporate hospitals were raided and incriminating documents were seized from them. "We are in the process of verifying the seized documents since we have specific information that some of the hospitals have drawn money by submitting fake bills," CBI officials said. The competent authority allegedly sanctioned the medical claims against fake bills submitted by private hospitals.The hospitals which were raided reportedly include many big names in the medical field. However, the CBI officials are tightlipped about it. "We are still in the process of investigating the case and arresting the persons involved in the scam will take time," officials added. Earlier, the CBI had alleged that certain officials in the CGHS Screening Committee had conspired with Care Hospital, Hyderabad and shown undue favour in processing its bills. The CGHS officials, Hyderabad allegedly processed these bills without checking the batch, date of manufacture and bar code among others, thus violating the norms laid down by CGHS to process and sanction claims. During earlier raids conducted over the past few months, the officials had found that a fraud of `12 lakh had been conducted by these hospitals.