Police raids over how disability panel (TELK) rulings are issued will come very soon, interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said at a briefing at the Council of Ministers.

"In whole regions of Bulgaria, being disabled has become a way to make a living and a profession," Demerdzhiev said. He added that the budget for disability payments through the TELK panels last year was €1.5bn.

Demerdzhiev said fake TELK rulings, and rulings for people who do not have the illnesses listed, hurt those who really need the money, damage the state budget and give some people an unfair advantage. He warned those involved that many more raids are coming: "This is only the start of a campaign that we will run step by step until the abuse stops."

Demerdzhiev also spoke about checks in two clinics of St George hospital in Plovdiv. Six people face criminal charges and three have been detained for up to 72 hours, Plovdiv regional prosecutor Vanya Hristeva told reporters yesterday. Investigators carried out 40 searches of people and addresses in Plovdiv, Karlovo and Krichim. Those held include six doctors and four nurses.

Fifteen patients are listed as admitted, though they were not physically in the hospital and were never taken in there. These 15 people cost the state a total of €7,500 a day.

The minister said the Plovdiv case is not only about stolen money but also a risk to people's lives and health. Illegal hospital admissions have been common practice across the country for years, he said, and he put the damage at tens to hundreds of millions. Demerdzhiev thanked the health ministry and the Plovdiv prosecutor's office for working together.

The minister also recalled a separate operation by the interior ministry and the State Agency for National Security (DANS) two weeks ago. It found that costly medicines were being prescribed, and that some were diverted and sent abroad again instead of going to patients. Demerdzhiev said the budget lost a huge sum and that exporting such medicines is unacceptable. He called on prosecutors to work harder on the case.

The interior ministry is ready to keep working against the draining of health funds together with the health ministry, DANS and the National Health Insurance Fund (NZOK), the minister said.