Sante Plus hospital owner Bilal Kara arrested after being wanted for a year

Bilal Kara, the owner of the private Sante Plus hospital, has been arrested as part of an operation carried out by authorities in North Macedonia in connection with an investigation into abuses involving the Health Insurance Fund.

He had also been wanted by Albanian authorities since September last year on suspicion of failing to declare income worth 1 million euros, while medications believed to have expired were also found at the clinic, although they were being used by the medical staff.

According to North Macedonian media, seven other people were arrested along with Bilal Kara. They are suspected of being involved in abuses related to procedures for eye operations.

According to the investigation, payments for these surgical procedures were allegedly made both by the Health Insurance Fund and by the patients themselves.

Among those arrested, according to North Macedonian media, is Geriana Arapi, the former director of Sante Plus hospital, who had also been wanted by Albanian authorities for more than a year following the shutdown of the International Medicare clinic in Tirana.