St. George Hospital Plovdiv billed the health fund for stays that never happened

On October 5, 2026, Bulgarian police detained nearly ten people in raids on a Plovdiv hospital and a Plovdiv Medical University building, suspected of defrauding the national health fund through fake hospital admissions and forged sick-leave certificates. Among them was Professor Mariela Geneva-Popova, dean of the medical faculty and head of its rheumatology clinic. Updated counts put the detainees at six doctors and four nurses, from 40 raids and searches in Plovdiv, Karlovo and Krichim.

Prosecutors say Dr Tsvetalina Kolacheva-Sali of the rheumatology clinic organised fake admissions under clinical pathways and oversaw false sick-leave certificates. Patients were then sent for rehabilitation to one of three centres owned and run by her sister, Dr Fani Kolacheva Gudeva - Fizioterapia Yug in Plovdiv, the Dinamikmed medical centre in Asenovgrad, and a physiotherapy clinic in Kuklen - and onward for 'continued treatment' at a sanatorium in Banite, in the Smolyan region, where the family has relatives.

The arithmetic is what stands out: deputy district prosecutor Dimitar Pehlivanov said the health fund paid St. George Hospital around 12 million euros over three years for 24,000 reported treatment episodes - in a ward with 49 beds. Witness interviews found many patients listed as hospitalised never visited the clinics, or came only for tests. The case runs as a pre-trial investigation into organised crime under Article 256 of the Criminal Code, run jointly by Plovdiv prosecutors, police and the health ministry after it started several months ago on the tip-off.

About 12 million euros paid by the National Health Insurance Fund over three years for 24,000 reported treatment episodes in a 49-bed ward; six people charged so far.

Invoices outran capacity: 24,000 treatment episodes billed against a 49-bed ward over three years was the pattern a tip-off could turn into a case.

The clinic controlled diagnosis, admission and referral, so 'patients' could be routed to rehabilitation centres owned by the lead doctor's own sister.

Forged sick-leave certificates made fake admissions pay twice - once from the fund for the stay, again through certified time off work.

The referral chain ended at a family-linked sanatorium in Banite, closing the loop from fake diagnosis to family revenue.

When one office controls diagnosis, admission and referral, billing audits need capacity arithmetic - invoices that outrun beds are the fraud's own receipt.

Both the rheumatology and nephrology clinics stopped work during the searches, leaving patients waiting outside while officers seized documents and doctors' phones. Six people have been charged, three detained for up to 72 hours; Kolacheva-Sali, the only one placed under arrest, has been released to house arrest. The organised-crime investigation continues.