A potential national healthcare fraud has been unearthed by the tax watchdog in Bulgaria, with 3,890 patients listed as admitted to hospitals discovered to have been gambling at casinos while supposedly undergoing treatment.
Supposed Hospital Patients Were In Fact at Casinos, Gambling
According to the National Revenue Service, or NAP for its Bulgarian acronym, the hospital stays were either non-existent or incomplete, as reported by local media outlets.
NAP reported that in the first half of 2025 alone, there were more than 22,000 visits to casinos by people who were logged as hospitalized patients at the time.
NAP has already opened formal investigations and has warned that any irregularities will result in a forfeiture of funds, with hospitals obligated to pay back the money to the National Health Insurance Fund.
Bulgaria allows citizens to pay nominal monthly contributions to access the country’s healthcare system, which includes a range of services and departments, and offers hospitalization when needed with no to minimal costs to patients.
Insurance Fraud Suspected, Formal Investigation Underway
Fraud, however, has been an ongoing issue, with false hospitalizations used by individual members of staff to enrich themselves, as well as suspected endemic corruption by executives who have been criticized for playing politics and currying favors with one of the longest-standing parties in the country.
The National Healthcare Insurance Fund has said that it cannot comment on these individual incidents until a formal investigation is completed.