The trial of the hundred accused state insurance claimants began at the three-member Court of Misdemeanors on Chios after a number of adjournments. The case concerns 120 recipients of health benefits for blindness from around the island without being entitled to it. The island’s local online news site reports that 15 of the original benefits scammers have died before their case was brought to trial.
Those who stand accused had cost the state huge amounts of money after managing to receive fake blindness certificates. Inspections by relevant committees found that the health certificates, issued by an opthalmologist at the Hospital of Chios, had little to do with their actual condition as those listed as blind were in fact sighted. Following the trial, it is expected that the public sector will seek for the return of the funds wrongly offered as benefits.
Appeals for the case to be dismissed for some of the defendants were heard following the reading of the defendants and charges against them. The hearing will be completed in three days if the process continues as planned.
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