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Italian hospital worker accused of skipping job for 15 YEARS STRAIGHT while raking in $650,000 in wages, setting national record
22 Apr, 2021 11:49
FILE PHOTO. The Pugliese-Ciaccio Hospital . ©Mollo / Fotogramma via Global Look Press
An Italian man who was supposed to work as a fire response officer at a public hospital has allegedly not been doing his job for a whopping 15 years in a row, while still receiving a salary.
The Italian public sector is infamous for this type of scam, and it appears this particular case sets a new national record for length. It was reported by the press this week, based on an investigation by local law enforcement.
The alleged fraudster, named Salvatore Scumace, was an employee of the Pugliese-Ciaccio Hospital in Catanzaro, the capital of the Calabria region in southern Italy. He was part of the COEI, the hospital’s fire emergency operations center. However, he had not showed up for work since 2005, and was only sacked in October 2020 after his lengthy absence was finally looked into, the media said.
Over the 15 years, Scumace, who is now 67, has allegedly defrauded the hospital out of some 538,000 euros ($648,000) that he unduly received in salary. He is also accused of threatening his COEI superior in 2005 to stop her from making a formal complaint about him skipping work. The manager has since retired, and Scumace’s absence remained unnoticed by her replacement, the police said.
A total of seven people, including Scumace, are being probed in a case of alleged forgery, abuse of power, and extortion. It was unearthed in July 2020 as part of a wider investigation by the Catanzaro police’s financial crimes unit into absentee worker fraud in the city.
Extraordinary! It's so common they keep records for the longest cases!
As if Big Pharma wasn't already bad enough, now we have fake vaccines!
Fake Pfizer vaccines seized in Mexico & Poland contained
distilled water, skin care products – media
22 Apr, 2021 07:39
Pfizer has reportedly identified for the first time counterfeit doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, with some selling for as much as $1,000. Thankfully no one appears to have been harmed by the scam jabs.
The pharmaceutical giant confirmed through testing that doses of their vaccine seized in Mexico and Poland were fake, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In Mexico, vials found in beer coolers were initially flagged as suspect due to their fabricated lot numbers and expiration dates. Around 80 people paid as much as $1,000 for the shots, which reportedly contained distilled water. Six people were arrested in February in connection with the black market shots. Fortunately, the fake jabs haven’t been linked to any medical episodes.
In a separate case, Pfizer said it had confirmed that fake doses had been put up for sale in Poland. The counterfeit vaccine purportedly contained hyaluronic acid, which is typically found in anti-wrinkle creams. One person was charged with fraud after an unspecified amount of the fake vials were found in his apartment. Authorities intervened before any of the counterfeit jabs were sold.
In a statement sent to the media, Pfizer said it recognized that the “ease and convenience of e-commerce and anonymity” on the internet has allowed for an “increase in the prevalence of fraud.” The pharmaceutical firm stressed that it does not sell the vaccine online, adding that it was working with law enforcement agencies and healthcare providers to crack down on the sale of fake doses.
Lev Kubiak, Pfizer's head of global security, said that the limited supply of the vaccine has created a “perfect opportunity” for criminals.
Although the two cases represent the first time that Pfizer has confirmed that its product has been falsified, numerous reports have sprung up in recent months about the sale of fake Covid-19 vaccines. In January, an unlicensed clinic in Ecuador offered patients what it falsely claimed to be a $15-per-dose vaccine against the coronavirus. The place was raided and shut down by authorities. The brand of the fake drug was not identified.
Interpol, the global police coordination agency, has warned countries that criminals could threaten public health by using websites to market fake vaccines and other ‘cures’ for Covid-19.
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Qatar finance minister arrested over misuse of public money
and abuse of power
6 May, 2021 14:36
View of the skyline of the West Bay area in Doha is taken on January 4, 2011 in Doha, Qatar.
© Christof Koepsel / Getty Images; (inset) Ali Shareef Al Emadi © gco.gov.qa
Qatar’s Attorney General Ali Bin Fetais Al-Marri ordered the arrest of the country’s Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al-Emadi on Thursday over allegations of misuse of public money and abuse of power.
State media organization Qatar News Agency (QNA) confirmed that the finance official had been detained and laid out that he was facing charges of embezzlement, abuse of power and crimes linked to the public sector.
“The Attorney General ordered the arrest of the Minister of Finance Ali Sharif Al-Emadi to investigate what was mentioned in the reports of crimes related to practicing public office,” the statement to QNA read.
While the attorney general’s office confirmed an investigation is underway, no information was released stating where Al-Emadi is being held or when he is expected to appear in court.
Al-Emadi previously worked as the chief executive of the Qatar Central Bank before he was appointed to the role of Qatar’s minister of finance in June 2013 after Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani took over as Emir of Qatar.
While corruption has plagued some countries in the Middle East, Qatar has been ranked as one of the least corrupt nations in the region. In the 2020 corruption perceptions index, Transparency International gave Qatar a score of 63 out of 100, ranking it as the 30th least corrupt country out of an overall list of 180.
I think you are in for a raise this year!
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