Two arrested in Lesvos for tipping funeral parlor on imminent deaths

Police on the island of Lesvos arrested on 12 October two stretcher-bearers who took bribes from the owner of a funeral parlor to inform him which patients were in critical condition and likely to die.

The arrests came after a complaint was filed with the police revealing their activity.

The two suspects, one of whom works at the island’s General Hospital,  are facing charges of bribery, bribery of a civil servant, breach of confidentiality, breach of duty and instigation to violate official confidentiality. The case file also names another employee of the hospital. Both were led before a prosecutor who launched a preliminary investigation. 

Police said the two employees had gained access to the electronic files of the hospital’s doctors at least since the end of August this year, and were systematically leaking confidential medical and personal data to the owner of the funeral parlor, who, in turn, undertook the funeral services, thus obtaining a financial benefit.

So far, 74 cases of violation of official confidentiality have been identified, of which 54 concerned patients who died, while for 26 of these, the funeral was undertaken by the business in question.

Police raids in the homes and business premises of the suspects came up with 18,240 euros, there mobile phones, while officers confiscated documents and handwritten notes.