Chandigarh: A major financial irregularity involving the misappropriation of patient treatment funds has come to light at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI), Chandigarh, with investigators uncovering a scam amounting to ₹1.14 crore. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR against eight individuals, including six PGI employees and two private persons, in connection with the case.
The scam surfaced after beneficiaries complained that approved treatment grants were not credited to patients’ accounts. In one such case, the husband of a patient, Kamlesh Devi, approached the PGI private grant cell to procure medicines worth ₹2.5 lakh approved under the scheme. He was informed that the patient’s file had been destroyed and digital records deleted. A subsequent inquiry revealed that nearly ₹22 lakh had instead been transferred to a bank account belonging to an unrelated individual named Nivas Yadav.
Further investigation found that fraudulent transfers were also made to the accounts of hospital attendants. In another instance, ₹90,000 from funds sanctioned for patient Arvind Kumar was transferred to the account of an attendant named Neha. As the probe widened, investigators identified 11 such accounts through which around ₹19 lakh was siphoned off by falsely posing as patients or their family members.
The inquiry also revealed that funds meant for rare disease treatment were illegally routed directly to drug vendors without valid prescriptions. Of the ₹61.75 lakh received from the National Health Fund and other agencies for five patients, ₹38.94 lakh was transferred to medicine suppliers’ accounts. Shockingly, two of the five patients had already died before the funds were disbursed.
An internal committee formed by PGI examined records from 2017 to October 2021 and found irregularities in 70 cases. In 17 cases, original bills submitted by medicine suppliers were altered to facilitate double payments, while files related to 37 patients were found missing from official records.
Investigators established that the entire operation was allegedly run through a photocopy shop located in the PGI complex. Employees linked to the private grant cell are accused of transferring grant money to fake bank accounts associated with the shop owner and his relatives, who then shared the proceeds.
The role of several pharmaceutical companies is also under scrutiny. Agencies are examining transactions involving firms such as HL Life Care, R Kumar Medicos, Kumar & Company and Maruti Medicos, though no charges have been framed against these entities so far.
The scam was eventually referred to the CBI after a complaint was filed with PGI authorities. A committee headed by Professor Dr Arun Aggarwal was constituted, following which the case was handed over to the central agency for investigation.
The CBI continues to probe the wider network involved in diverting patient welfare funds and the illegal sale of high-cost medicines in the open market using patients’ names.
