MANILA, Philippines — A Manila court on Saturday ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to release the detained owner of WellMed Dialysis Center, who was charged with estafa in connection with patient benefit payments made by Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) for “ghost” dialysis treatments. An agent, however, said the NBI office that processes the release of detainees is closed during weekends. Devanadera found that WellMed officers “conspired in using falsified documents to collect payments from PhilHealth for alleged medical services to patients who were already dead.”Preliminary investigationSeven other WellMed officers, who are not yet in custody, will undergo preliminary investigation. WhistleblowersRoberto and De Leon blew the whistle on the “ghost” dialysis and other alleged WellMed rackets, which were first reported by the Inquirer. Following Inquirer’s report, the President ordered PhilHealth president and chief executive officer Roy Ferrer and six other officials to resign.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 15, 2019 21:33 UTC