Pirates demand audit at Motol over corruption case

The opposition Pirates party is pushing for an audit at the Motol University Hospital in Prague, relating to the recent corruption case, party chairman Zdeněk Hřib told reporters in the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. Based on the current police findings, they believe that other facilities at the hospital may also be affected. The Pirates, along with the opposition ANO movement, also want to discuss the issue of public procurement at Motol in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies.

The corruption and fraud case has resulted in the detention of seventeen people, including the former hospital director Miloslav Ludvík. The police are prosecuting the accused for bribery crimes, subsidy fraud, damage to the EU's financial interests and money laundering. The case is being supervised by the European Public Prosecutor's Office. The main suspects face up to twelve years in prison. According to Mr. Hřib, the scandal has once again shown how easily money from public budgets can end up in the wrong pockets, and that corruption in the healthcare sector is a systemic and long-term problem.