Sunday, January 15, 2023
The evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office shows that the then president of the EPS would have directed two contracts for the supply of medicines
A guarantee control judge charged the former president of Medimás EPS SAS, Néstor Orlando Arenas Fonseca, for allegedly diverting $7,105 million that should be allocated to the care of patients with high-cost diseases.
In the case, charges were also assigned to the contractor Mercedes Barrera Botía, and the owner of a Health Services Provider Institution (IPS), José Leonidas Olaya Forero.
The evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office shows that the then president of the EPS directed two contracts to guarantee the supply of medicines and supplies for these patients, which were allegedly delivered to the Barrera Botía company. This company would have been established 15 days earlier.
In addition, this entity did not have the financial muscle, nor the necessary policies to guarantee compliance with the agreement. The Prosecutor’s Office assured that this entity was registered at the same operating address as the Medimás headquarters in Bogotá. The EPS, apparently, would have given Barrera Botía an advance of $263,000 million.
For this reason, the defendants received charges for crimes of undue interest in the execution of contracts, ideological falsehood in a private document and embezzlement by appropriation. None of the defendants accepted the charges.
Medimás had a preliminary investigation for irregularities
The Comptroller General of the Republic, Carlos Hernán Rodríguez Becerra, announced in September his intention to strictly monitor the management of health resources, focusing especially on Medimás, where there is a fiscal finding for $8,633 million and an preliminary investigation for $842,449 million, for advances paid to suppliers between August 1, 2017 and March 16, 2022.
In a special inspection action, the entity found irregularities in the legalization of the advances made in the aforementioned period by the EPS in liquidation, “generating uncertainty about the administration, management and custody of the resources of the health system”. In addition, it identified inconsistencies in the supports, specifically in the invoices that support the provision of health services, which would account for the irregular management in the formalization of the administered resources.
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