Aggravated fraud at the health service, arrested Massimo Blasoni

The men of the Guardia di Finanza of Udine, coordinated by the local Public Prosecutor's Office, from 7 am on this morning have launched a series of arrests, searches and seizures against managers and group headquarters Happy Horizons, starting from the administrative direction of Udine in via Vittorio Veneto, following a procedure concerning social-health expenditure, to the detriment of the budgets of the Friuli Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Sicily Regions.

The company founded in 1996 by entrepreneurs is at the center of the investigations Massimo Blasoni, ended up in arrests, e George Zucchini active in the field of assistance for the elderly, self-sufficient and not, and in the management of therapeutic – rehabilitation communities for children and adolescents, with operational offices throughout the national territory.

Sereni Orizzonti operates throughout Italy with 85 residences for the elderly and reception facilities for minors and directly employs almost 3,000 employees. Moreover, it has recently extended its activity also to Germany and Spain.

The hypothesis of the Guardia di Finanza is that of aggravated fraud against the National Health Service.

THE DEFENCE. After the search of the yellow Flames in his residence, in via Piave in Udine, Blasoni was taken to the city jail in via Spalato. Like him, three other executives of the group, while for four others the house arrest was arranged; for another, the obligation to stay was triggered.

"There are contests a series of public and private frauds – explains the lawyer of Sereni Orizzonti, the Udinese lawyer Luca Ponti – or the provision to the guests of the facilities affiliated with different Regions of services other than those provided for in the agreement ”.

The disputes – the lawyer explains – relate not to medical or pharmaceutical assistance to the elderly, but, for example, the number of personnel with a certain qualification in relation to the guests. Obviously, the difference between contracted and realized differs region by region. In the same hypothesis of crime, according to the power of attorney, the interests and rights of private individuals would also be injured, that is to say the same assisted and their relatives who take charge of the fees.

"Massimo is ready to clarify everything in a serene and transparent manner," Ponti continues, regarding the arrest of the president of Sereni Orizzonti. The lawyer was at the entrepreneur's side when the yellow Flames knocked on the residence in via Piave to carry out the search and the subsequent arrest. Ponti looks forward to analyzing all the investigative papers and the guarantee questioning, within 5 days, to request the modification of the restrictive measure.

Beyond the judicial case, however, the lawyer Ponti intends to underline the financial and entrepreneurial solidity of the group, which is not affected. Not only because it is able to guarantee, with its 3,500 employees, assistance continuity to 6 thousand elderly guests of the structures, but also because, despite a seizure of over 10 million euros, the bank custody has been confirmed and liquidity towards suppliers and workers it is completely guaranteed.

THE INVESTIGATIONS. At the state of the investigations, the group appears to have illicitly received government grants for a quantifiable amount in over 10 million euros, presenting untruthful reports to the Healthcare Authorities regarding the quantitative and qualitative standards of the services provided in their facilities. In particular, to maximize business profits, they compressed the personnel costs to the maximum of service used and provided different services in terms of quantity and quality than the standards set by law and contractually, determining one less assistance to the elderly and minors, even at the risk of affecting their well-being and health.

For this purpose, even more hours of social and health assistance were accounted for, considering these services also those carried out by personnel lacking the necessary qualifications and, in fact, used only in cleaning and cooking services. The documentation certifying the daily attendance of care workers and the hours of work actually performed by them was systematically destroyed and / or concealed from the supervisory bodies.

At other times, services never provided to patients were falsely reported on the basis of false invoices issued by compliant professionals. The irregularities, which also include the employment relationships of the work units, also constitute a scam of private guests who, in the face of paid inpatient fees, obtained lower welfare benefits.

The fraud system emerged thanks to a tax audit conducted by the Fiamme Gialle of Udine, with a multidisciplinary approach, in which the Financiers had noticed some critical issues in the reporting of charges to Healthcare Companies in the field of assistance to guests of residences for the elderly and communities for minors.

Through successive scrupulous technical investigations and complex documentary evidence, it was possible to acquire the evidence of illegal activities carried out and still in progress on several operating structures and to identify specific responsibility profiles connected to the entrepreneurial choices of the majority shareholder of the company, which, although not having no formal administrative role, in fact had devised and implemented, together with his collaborators, a company policy aimed at maximizing profits, aware of defrauding the Health Agencies.

The Judge for the preliminary investigations of the Court of Udine, Mary Rose Perch, he ordered nine personal precautionary measures against the perpetrators of the aggravated fraud (four precautionary cases in prison, four house arrest and an obligation to stay). Furthermore, the seizure of assets and values ​​for over 10 million euros was ordered, an amount corresponding to the illegally received public resources.

The Chief Prosecutor of Udine, Antonio De Nicolo, and the Deputy Prosecutor of the Republic, Paola De Franceschi, who coordinated the investigations, wanted to safeguard, in the request for the adoption of precautionary measures, the continuity of care and assistance services for guests and the work relationships of the employees of the structures.