The Civil Guard of Lanzarote arrested one person and investigated another, between 60 and 55 years old, last July as alleged perpetrators of a crime of reckless homicide in a well-known clinic in the town of Costa Teguise. In addition, the Benemérita arrested other people in the same place for professional intrusion, disclosure of secrets and fraud. These arrests have been carried out within the framework of Operation BAYAM.
The agents became aware of the situation on February 19, following a complaint from a resident on the island filed at the facilities of the Main Post of Costa Teguise, regarding different crimes allegedly carried out in a recognized clinic in the town.
The investigation began that same month and the appropriate steps were taken to clarify the criminal acts stated by the victim, thus being able to gather all the police investigations to verify the authenticity of the criminal acts and identify the perpetrators.
As a result of the investigation and investigations gathered, five people were arrested for professional intrusion, one person for disclosure of secrets, one person for fraud, and finally, one person was arrested and another investigated for alleged reckless homicide, all of them workers at the health center.
After analyzing different documentation, the statements of a large number of victims and witnesses, the Civil Guard of Costa Teguise requested the collaboration of other police units in national territory.
Nurses without qualifications
After the investigations, the agents detected the existence of an alleged crime of professional intrusion. All this after taking a statement from the personnel who were carrying out their professional work in the clinic, where they stated that whoever performed the work of clinic personnel as nurses, were performing these tasks without being qualified or authorized to practice it in the national territory.
After due consultations with the different collegiate bodies, they found out that some of them were in possession of the qualification of clinic assistant and others who practiced nursing lacked the qualification to carry out that activity, the most notable thing being that they all had the approval and consent for this exercise of nursing by the Management of the clinic.
As a continuation of the investigations, the agents of the Civil Guard detected an alleged crime of fraud since in this clinic surgical interventions were carried out, which were supposedly invoiced irregularly to what really corresponded, charging for these interventions more than double what was stipulated. In addition to performing them with personnel who did not meet the basic training requirements for their performance, since in these interventions the presence of Nursing personnel was necessary, which, as had been verified, this clinic lacked, and in the event of complications in the operating room could have a fatal outcome for the people who were undergoing those interventions.
To which must be added that during the investigation it was learned that especially sensitive data was disseminated without any control through a well-known social messaging network, which could be committing an alleged crime of disclosure of secrets, since this medical data of patients must be treated with the utmost confidentiality and secrecy, noting in the investigation that a high number of alleged victims were women.
The death of a patient
During the course of the investigations that are being carried out, it was found that, knowing that he was not authorized for home care, one of the alleged perpetrators went to a health emergency in a hotel in the town of Costa Teguise in which, after a first assessment and despite the physical condition in which the patient was, he decides to activate a private basic life support ambulance to transfer him to his clinic, knowing that he lacked both technical and human resources for a dignified care of the same, as well as to solve a more than probable worsening of the patient's health.
Ending this outcome with the death of the same, which could be recklessness on the part of the professional. That is why international cooperation is requested through the UOPJ of Las Palmas, from the German Police in order to clarify the reported facts, which can be described as Homicide by Negligence committed by a professional.
New arrests are not ruled out
Given the above, by the Investigating Unit of the Civil Guard of Costa Teguise, the authorization of entry and search in said clinic, as well as another company related to it in Madrid, was requested from the Investigating Court number 1 of Arrecife, obtaining a large amount of documentation which is being analyzed in collaboration with the EDITE specialists of the Civil Guard of Las Palmas, so new arrests are not ruled out within the framework of this operation. The proceedings together with the detainees were sent to the Arrecife Duty Court.
