The Plovdiv Appeals Court today kept Prof. Mariela Geneva in custody. Prosecutors say she organised a scheme of fake hospital admissions to drain money from the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). In court, she admitted the fake admissions and said she was guilty. See our original report: Prof Geneva-Popova stays in custody in case over more than €3m from health fund.
Prosecutors say more than €3m was taken from the fund through the fake admissions. Geneva appealed against her permanent detention and asked to be released on bail.
She resigned from two posts while in custody. Geneva no longer heads the rheumatology clinic at St George University Hospital, and she is no longer dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University in Plovdiv.
"I feel guilt not only as punishment, but also purely morally," Geneva told the court.
"There is no doctor who does not stand in a courtroom and feel guilt, especially when there is a lot of evidence," the defendant added. She said it weighs most heavily when the evidence comes from colleagues she has sat at the same table with.
Geneva felt unwell as she gave her statement, and the court paused the hearing to wait for a medical team. Emergency doctors measured her blood pressure at 120/61 and her blood sugar at 7.7, and found a minor change on her ECG.
Geneva said the medics examined her and discussed the therapy she is receiving with her, and that she is fit to take part in the case. She asked for the hearing to go on, and the court continued it.
Her last word to the court was just "thank you".